In the five years since Chancellor Joel Klein took over the New York public schools, the system has changed dramatically and produced remarkable gains in student learning. However, to achieve excellence over the long term, Klein and his team designed and implemented a sophisticated performance management system that includes both accountability and organizational learning mechanisms. Covers the design and early implementation of the various aspects of the system, as well as the attempts to shift the culture from a focus on effort to a focus on results.
In 2005, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) leadership decided to take a hard look at issues of race and institutional barriers impeding the progress of African American and Hispanic students. Examines how a large, urban public school district attempts to systemically address and eliminate the district's minority student achievement gap. The (A) case gives an overview of MCPS' past efforts to address the district's minority student achievement gap leading up to July 2005. It shows how a school district with a long history of dealing with racial issues and the minority achievement gap continues to grapple with many of the same issues related to access, equity and belief systems. Picking up where the (A) case ends, the (B) case examines MCPS' new approach and specific efforts to narrow the district's achievement gap through data utilization, accountability mechanisms, and professional development after July 2005. The (B) case also details the leadership team's challenges in communicating about race. It is accompanied by a video supplement of MCPS Superintendent Jerry Weast speaking explicitly about race and the achievement gap to MCPS administrators.
Examines how a school district can differentiate its management of high-performing vs. high-need schools based on a variety of indicators, including performance and capacity at the school level.
Examines the ongoing efforts of an urban public school district to strengthen and support as well as manage and evaluate principal instructional leadership. Highlights the challenges posed by an influx of new first-year principals, partnership with two different principal development programs, and the looming retirement of more than half the district principals.