The organizational structure of XYZ school
Essentially, XYZ school stakeholders include school administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community partners.
In order to create a systemic change in the organizational structure of XYZ school, both teachers and students should benefit from the diversity that schools provide. Thus, in order to enhance harmony and cooperation among teachers, school administrators’ diversity leadership abilities (e.g., approach to diversity, fairness, equity, compassion, and conflict management) are required (Polat et al., 2017). These abilities are necessary for the school’s goals to be met.
The school strives to prepare students for life by encouraging them to pursue their passions and skills while also promoting their personal growth. Teacher effectiveness is one of the fundamental aspects of attaining school goals (Polat et al., 2017). In this context, creating a positive school environment and culture is critical for enhancing teacher motivation and performance. Polat et al. (2017) state that teacher diversity will give an additional advantage to students’ academic and personal growth with proper leadership. As a result, school administrators’ leadership of diversity in educational organizations contributes to school performance (Polat et al., 2017). Communication, engagement, creativity, organizational success, and organizational commitment all benefit from effective diversity leadership. Moreover, it is essential to boost parental and community partners’ involvement to create a systemic change.
The organizational theory that best fits the situation
XYZ school’s reading achievement on the annual state standardized summative testing has been steadily declining in third-fifth grades for the previous three school years. White and Levin (2016) emphasize that many students, particularly those from racial/ethnic minorities and low-income households, lack the academic abilities and learning practices required for college success. Hence, college enrolment is impacted by the lack of college preparation among underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students and kids from low-income homes. More crucially, complexity theory may be utilized to build a framework for establishing favorable conditions for educational change (White & Levin, 2016). Traditional system models should be replaced by complex adaptive systems (CAS). Through the local interactions of their agents, CAS examines systems at a micro-level. Equilibrium must be interrupted to establish circumstances for change in CAS that are stable (White & Levin, 2016). Therefore, injecting disturbances into a system that pushes a stable system out of equilibrium can create a new system due to interactions between its constituent parts.
The fact that all CAS are self-organizing systems is a significant aspect. The nonlinear interconnectivity of network elements in self-organizing systems results in feedback loops (White & Levin, 2016). Feedback loops emerge between interacting pieces of a system because the change in CAS happens through local interactions. White and Levin (2016) suggest that because CAS relies on feedback loops, agents must be connected, forming social networks. Essentially, if individuals can change or evolve in the organization, social networks can change or develop as well (White & Levin, 2016). Individuals’ actions not only move along feedback loops, but they may also modify them.
An outline of the needs assessment
An evaluation of diverse stakeholder viewpoints may be part of a context-specific approach to needs assessment (e.g., students, parents, community members, teachers, and administrators). Stakeholder viewpoints are crucial because they may assist leaders in understanding how the system’s different components interact (Cuiccio & Husby-Slater, 2018). Rigorous data analysis includes input and output data (Cuiccio & Husby-Slater, 2018). Input data refers to materials that are supposed to help the school succeed. Improvement plans, curricular materials and supplies, training, resource allocation, and intervention programs are all included in this area. Output data includes student and instructor attendance, student success, program ratings, and classroom observations. Active stakeholder involvement may aid in the development of trust. Participating stakeholders are more likely to be invested in the results and actively involved in the selection, development, and execution of improvement plans and strategies that produce lasting change if they gain confidence in and through the process(Cuiccio & Husby-Slater, 2018). Additionally, collaborative identification of the needs refers to the process of determining priorities in collaboration with stakeholders.
The curriculum and instruction theoretical framework
A number of critical aspects will be included in the theoretical foundation for education. Significantly, school reform that begins in the classroom can be beneficial. As a result, creating culturally responsive classrooms and respecting the variety of multicultural learners are critical for the school’s and students’ success (Burridge et al., 2009). Fostering and maintaining an inclusive atmosphere that genuinely values the students’ linguistic and cultural variety may make learning more enjoyable, leading to increased academic achievement. Better governance will emerge from increased parental engagement, accountability, and transparency (Mason, 2016). Thus, it is vital to involve various shareholders to enable cultural responsiveness.
Students who see representations of their language and visuals that they can relate to in their classrooms have a stronger connection to their learning material. Supporting students’ native languages and implementing a culturally inclusive curriculum is equally critical (Burridge et al., 2009). White and Levin (2016) accept that there is a reciprocal causal link between academic expectations and student academic achievement. Educational expectations of teachers have an impact on student academic success. Teachers’ academic expectations are influenced by student academic achievement (White & Levin, 2016). Academic performance will improve when the bar for academic standards is raised.
The curriculum and instruction problem of practice
The problem of practice can be identified by applying the 5 Why’s approach. According to NikPeackey (2018), the ‘5 whys’ strategy was developed by Sakichi Toyoda, the creator of the Toyota manufacturing corporation, to analyze production problems and determine the main reasons.
The Problem: A consistent stagnation in the reading achievement of third-fifth grade students.
Why #1: Why is there consistent stagnation?
Because reading teachers have consistently complained that students are entering third-grade reading below grade level, this has had a spiraling negative effect on achievement scores in testing grades.
Why #2: Why reading teachers have consistently complained?
Because of the diverse needs of the students represented in the school’s demographic and low reading achievement.
Why #3: Why is there a low reading achievement among diverse students?
Because there is a disconnect between curriculum implementation/instructional delivery and student reading achievement.
Why #4: Why is there a disconnect in curriculum implementation?
Because there is a gap between instructional delivery and student achievement.
Why #5: Why is there a gap between instructional delivery?
Because there is low cultural responsiveness in the learning environment.
References
Burridge, N., Buchanan, J., & Chodkiewicz, A. (2009). Dealing with difference: Building culturally responsive classrooms. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 1(3), 68–83. Web.
Cuiccio, C., & Husby-Slater, M. (2018). Needs assessment guidebook: Supporting the development of district and school needs assessments. State Support Network. Web.
Mason, M. (2016). Is thorough implementation of policy change in education actually possible? What complexity theory tells us about initiating and sustaining change. European Journal of Education, 51(4), 437–440. Web.
NikPeachey. (2018). The 5 whys: Encouraging inquiry in the classroom. PeacheyPublication.com. Web.
Polat, S., Arslan, Y., & Dincer, O. (2017). Diversity leadership skills of school administrators: A scale development study. Issues in Educational Research, 27(3), 512-526. Web.
White, D. G., & Levin, J. A. (2016). Navigating the turbulent waters of school reform guided by complexity theory. Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education, 13(1). Web.