District Administration - July/August 2012 - (Page 26)

ResearchCenter Relationships can play a key role in reform efforts. EssEntials on Education data and rEsEarch analysis The Social Side of District Change By Alan J. Daly and Kara S. Finnigan D istrict leaders are facing challenging conditions across the country, including increased accountability, reduced budgets and limited community support, while also trying to bring about educational improvements at all levels of the system. Yet reform is difficult work and yields limited success in most settings, particularly in large urban districts with the most challenging circumstances and many low-performing schools. Our recent work suggests that educational change may in fact require a shift in attention from the school site as the unit of reform to exploring the interactions among and between district office and site leaders in enacting change efforts (Daly & Finnigan, 2010, 2011; Finnigan & Daly, 2010). Moreover, our work suggests that while work-related knowledge and expertise are critical to the development, implementation and sustainability of districtwide improvement actions, perhaps just as critical, and less attended to, are the relationships between and among district and site leaders. Understanding improvement as a relational act is built on the assumption that changes in organizations are often socially constructed and enacted (Daly, 2010). Therefore, attempts to modify formal structures in support of greater collaboration, shared leadership and decision-making require changes in existing social relationships. It is the organizational interdependence of action reflecting a network of social relationships that may ultimately moderate, influence and even determine the direction, speed and depth of a planned change. Capturing that point, Mohrman et al. (2003) offer that because change processes emerge and are maintained through interpersonal relationships, “lasting change does not result from plans, blueprints, and events. Rather, change occurs through the interaction of participants (p. 321).” Evidence from educational organizations that have improved suggests that individuals within those systems are more trusting and work in collaborative cultures (Daly & Finnigan, in press). Furthermore, explicit and shared theories of action, mutual “sense making,” clear consistent communication, and strong relationships regarding improvement efforts between central office administrators and site leaders result in greater systemic coherence and goal attainment. The balance of this work suggests the need for a more interconnected systems approach, as educators need to “think systemically about schools and their development and see educational organizations in terms of their interdependent parts” (Smylie, et al., 2003, p. 155). While there is growing recognition of the importance of improving the relationships between central offices and sites, systematic analyses of the underlying social network structures prior to implementing change strategies are rare. The purpose of this research overview is to provide a glimpse into our recent research and, more specifically, how district leaders used this research in their reform efforts. Social Network Analysis A social network consists of a set of individuals who are connected to one another through a series of relationships. Communication, knowledge, innovation and any number of “relational resources” can flow through the social ties between individuals. A social network analysis can reveal the underlying network structures that are important in understanding supports and constraints to the exchange of these resources. While social network analysis has been well established in other disciplines, it has been used less in education, particularly in examining the importance of the relationships between and among district and site leaders. Context and Data Sources Our longitudinal social network analysis is of La Confianza School District, which serves approximately 33,000 students, 88 percent of who are students of color. The same percentage of students receives free and reduced-price lunches. La Confianza is an important case, as it typifies many of the urban districts across the country that serve primarily students of color from low socio-economic communities, that have a pattern of underperformance, and that are engaged in districtwide improvement efforts to move off of state and federal sanctions. We collected social network data from central office and school leaders using an online survey over two years to examine the pattern of relationships and how those relationships changed over time. Research Findings Figure 1 is a social network map from the first year of data collection (2010) indicating the exchange of “expertise” between central office and site administrators. This data indicates that there was a dense amount of information sharing between the central office administrators (red nodes) and limited expertise exchange between site administrators (blue nodes) as demonstrated by the lines connecting the nodes. Also, to the left of the map are multiple nodes that represent district and site leaders who are not connected to the larger District Administration 26 July/August 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July/August 2012

District Administration - July/August 2012
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Research Center
Professional Opinion
Supervisor's Opinion
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Gaming Gains Respect
A Running Start for ELLs
Paul Vallas for Sale
Unsung Heroes
CIO News
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Virtual Schooling
Noteworthy Books
New Products
Product Focus
Problem Solution

District Administration - July/August 2012