Dr. Douglas L. Ragland
Retired Superintendent of Schools
1. Oshry, Barry, Seeing Systems: Unlocking the Mysteries of Organizational Life, 1966. The author discusses how daily breakdowns occur as a result of our failure to understand how human systems shape our feelings and thoughts about ourselves, as well as our relationships with other individuals and groups. He illustrates how we can successfully enable ourselves to live and work together in a partnership.
2. Nanus, Bert Visionary Leadership, Joey-Bass, 1992. This book focuses on vision being the key to successful leadership, the importance of developing a vision, as well as the guidelines for developing its scope and implementing it successfully. Visionary Leadership is a necessary tool for every organization.
3. Hawley, William-The KEYS to Effective Schools, Washington D.C.: NEA, 2002. The author provides valuable insights in regards to a successful learning environment via continuous improvement and strong leadership. He stresses consistent and long-term professional development in tandem with engaging teachers, administrators and community colleagues supported by a strong culture as a means of school improvement and professional and student success.
4. Senge, Peter, Schools That Learn, 2000. The author emphasizes educational change in building organizations where learning can thrive as a result of developing personal goals, creating shared visions, realizing and cultivating attitudes, opinions and perceptions, creating and implementing positive interaction, understanding interdependency and change and practicing positive feedback.
5. Smith,S., and J. Scott, The Collaborative School: A Work Environment for Effective Instruction, 1990. This book emphasizes the importance of collaboration in terms of teachers and administrators developing and sharing a common vision in developing an alternative work environment that will be successful in meeting the needs of the students.
6. Duke, D., “Removing Barriers to Professional Growth”, Phi Delta Kappan, 75, 702-712. 1993. This article discusses organizational barriers in education and ways for educators to deal with these barriers in an effort to achieve success in an organization via professional growth and ultimately resulting in successful student achievement.
7. Glatthorrn, A., Teachers as Agents of Change: A New Look at School Improvement. Washington D.C.: NEA. 1992. The author stresses that the key to development and implementation of a successful school improvement plan is collaboration is between teachers and administrators, between school and home, and among teachers in their respective instructional teams.
8. Sparks, D., “A Paradigm Shift in Professional Development”, Changing Education: Resources for Systemic Reform, pp 152-153, Washington DC: United States Department of Education. 1993. This book details how three ideas, results-driven education, systems thinking, and constructivism, are shaping a new direction in professional development in schools. Results-driven education judges the success of schooling by students’ knowledge and their capabilities and performance as a result of their time in school. Systems’ thinking is a structure for seeing interrelationships rather than things. Constructivism views learners as creators of their own knowledge structures as opposed to receiving them from others.
9. Fullan, M., The New Meaning of Educational Change, New York: Teachers College Press. 1991. This book focuses on knowing what change looks like from the perspectives of the teachers, parents, students, and administrators, and combining these knowledge bases in implementing effective change in the organization.
10. Checklist from The Fifth Discipline Field Book by Senge, Leiner, Roberts, Ross, Smith. This checklist focuses on successful collaborative strategies and perspectives needed amongst teachers, and administrators in attaining ideas necessary to achieve a successful learning environment.
11. Little J.W. “Teachers as Colleagues” Schools as Collaborative Cultures: Creating the Future Now, A. Lieberman, Ed., Bristol, Pennsylvania: Falmer. This book explores the values of educational visions containing inclusion, critique and diversity in maintaining differences in beliefs and practices in meeting the needs of students and creating a successful learning environment.
11. Little J.W. “Teachers as Colleagues” Schools as Collaborative Cultures: Creating the Future Now, A. Lieberman, Ed., Bristol, Pennsylvania: Falmer. This book explores the values of educational visions containing inclusion, critique and diversity in maintaining differences in beliefs and practices in meeting the needs of students and creating a successful learning environment.
12. Perrone, V., Expanding Student Assessment, Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1991. This book discusses and supports constructive discussion about assessment. This book focuses on authentic assessment in education, with an emphasis on teachers and classroom practice as effective resources and methodologies.
The most important and beneficial information that I have learned from this study is the understanding of how change can impact a learning environment in both positive and negative ways and how an administrator must have the knowledge and skills to understand and balance effectively in a non-threatening environment the human element, consisting of personalities and behaviors that may be in direct contrast as to what the leader, group or organization is attempting to accomplish. Eliminating potential barriers must be done as a prerequisite to developing a vision and or school improvement plan. Everyone must respect everyone’s viewpoints and develop the ability to compromise and collaborate, based on data and research presented, and most importantly keep the mission geared towards or focused on the best interest of students. Each person in the group brings strengths and all must be utilized in developing and accomplishing the vision and goals. If the process is domineering in terms of everyone agreeing with the leader then the results will be limited and reflect only the leader’s perspective. Buy-in and input from all perspectives including teachers, administrators, parents, community leaders and stakeholders must truly be evident in the continuous improvement process, thus enhancing educational excellence in professional development for educators and ultimately achieving optimum student achievement and success. This is in essence the most important and beneficial information that I gleaned from this study of Planning for Continuous Improvement in Alabama Public Schools.