Professional Development Topics
By Robert Evans, Ed.D.
Why A School Doesn't Run
– or Change – Like a Business
As the pace of change accelerates, school board members and trustees, especially those who work in the business world, can encounter—and cause—real frustration. Convinced that innovation is vital, eager to help their schools change, they are often amazed by the resistance from faculty and the slow pace of implementation. Convinced, too, of the value of clear benchmarks and measurable goals, they often chafe at educators’ preference for softer data. For their part, administrators are often at a loss to convey to board members the unique nature of schools, the psychology of educators, and the complexities of appraising teacher performance.
This workshop examines unique features of schools that make them less readily “changeable” than other organizations. Schools must be businesslike enough to survive, but they are much more like families or religious institutions than like anything corporate. They don’t make products or sell services, they raise the young. This is a backward-looking enterprise. Schools prepare students for the future (the unknown), but can only do so by teaching them about the past (the known). The field attracts people with a strong security anchor, not risk-taking entrepreneurs.
None of this means schools don’t change. It means they need a different framework for managing change, for balancing innovation with continuity. Rob outlines key steps in this process and explores ways that school leaders and boards can set realistic goals that promote successful growth and adaptation.
The program is offered as a full-day or a half-day workshop and as a keynote. Both workshop formats include a mixture of presentation, large group Q & A, discussions in pairs and small groups. The full-day permits more sharing, discussion, and role-playing and practicing. Rob always likes to tailor programs to meet the specific needs and interests of a school or a district and is glad to discuss this.