Tuesday, May 24, 2005

My contribution to the resurgence of interest in systemic change in school districts

Michael Fullan (2000) wrote about the return of systemic change in school districts (The return of large-scale reform. Journal of Educational Change, 1, 1-25).

As I reflected on his observation, I started to think about how my body of work as a professor, author, and consultant may have contributed to that resurgence of interest in systemic change. It is my hope that in some small way, the ideas I have shared about large-scale change in school districts have influenced this resurgence of interest in systemic change.

What I did to try to identify how I may have influenced the return of systemic change was to examine my experience and extract from my vita samples of my work from 1980-2000. Here’s what I found.

In 1980, Chris Argyris sponsored an honorary faculty position for me in the Harvard Graduate School of Education to study his and Donald Schön’s ideas about personal and organizational learning. That’s when I started thinking about organizational learning in school systems.

In 1985 and 1986, I published my first two articles on applying principles of organization development and systems theory to improving the practice of instructional supervision in school districts. In 1990, I continued writing about the application of systems change to the challenge of improving instructional supervision.

An article in 1992 expressed views that reflected a shift in my thinking away from how to improve the process of instructional supervision to improving whole school systems. Then, in 1995 I published three articles that continued to shift my thinking to a focus on using systems theory to improve entire school systems.

In 1995, I started publishing and distributing The F.M. Duffy Reports. These were free quarterly reports distributed through the U.S. mail to an international audience of practitioners, professors, consultants, school board members, and politicians. The theme of the reports was about how to create and sustain system-wide change in school districts. In 2005, I started distributing these Reports via E-mail. The theme remains the same.

My first book was published in 1996 with the title Designing high performance schools: A practical guide to organizational reengineering. This book described in detail how to apply principles of systemic change to improve schools and school systems. One of the chapters in that book was about Knowledge Work Supervision.

1997 saw another two articles published about applying principles of systemic change to improving school systems. Two more articles appeared in 1997 and 1998 about a reconceptualized model of supervision that shifted the focus of supervision off of individual teachers and onto the performance of an entire school system. That model was called Knowledge Work Supervision (which was first described in my first book).

I invited Lynda Rogerson and Charles Blick to co-author Redesigning America’s schools: A systems approach to improvement. That book was published in 2000 and provided a detailed description of how to redesign an entire school system using Knowledge Work Supervision. Charles Reigeluth of Indiana University, a noted expert on systemic change in education, characterized that book as the best one he has ever seen on applying principles of systems theory to the challenge of transforming school systems.

I stopped reviewing my vita at the year 2000 because that was the year that Fullan published his article on the return of large-scale reform.

Since 2000, I have published many more articles and several more books. The Knowledge Work Supervision methodology has been transformed into Step-Up-To-Excellence.

All tolled, I hope that my ideas as expressed in my writing, teaching and consulting have contributed in some small way to the return of large-scale reform in education as commented upon by Michael Fullan.


References

Books

Duffy, F. M. (2005, in press). Power, politics and ethics: Dynamic leadership for systemic school improvement. Leading Systemic School Improvement Series. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Duffy, F. M. (2004). Moving upward together: Creating strategic alignment to sustain change. Leading Systemic School Improvement Series, No.1. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education.

Duffy, F. M. (2003). Courage, passion, and vision: A guide to leading systemic school improvement. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education and the American Association of School Administrators.

Duffy, F. M. (2002). Step-Up-To-Excellence: An innovative approach to managing and rewarding performance in school systems. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education.

Duffy, F. M. & Dale, J. (Eds.) (2001). Creating successful school systems: Voices from the university, the field, and the community. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Duffy, F. M., Rogerson, L. G., & Blick, C. (2000). Redesigning America’s schools: A systems approach to improvement. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Duffy, F. M. (1996). Designing high performance schools: A practical guide to organizational reengineering. Del Ray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.


Articles


___________(2000 Winter). Re-conceptualizing instructional supervision. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 15 (2), 123-145.

____________(1998). Knowledge Work Supervision: Transforming school systems into high performing learning organizations. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, EA 029224.

___________ (1997 May). Supervise schooling, not teachers. Educational Leadership, 54 (8), 78 - 83.

___________ (1997 January). Knowledge Work Supervision: Transforming school systems into high-performing learning organizations. International Journal of Educational Management, 11 (1), 26 - 31.

__________ (1995). Supervising knowledge-work. NASSP Bulletin, 79 (573), 56-66.

__________ (1995). Supervising knowledge work. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. EA026349.

__________ (1995). Designing high performance schools through instructional supervision. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. EA026350.

__________ (April, 1992). Random thoughts, deeply felt. In the Chesapeake Bay Organization Development Network Newsletter, 6 (2)

____________(1990 Spring). Soil conditions, cornerstones, and other thoughts: A treatise for a school superintendent. Wingspan,5 (2).

__________ (1986). Improving the effectiveness of supervisory practice. Planning and Changing: A Journal for School Administrator, 16 (4), 195-205.

__________ (1985). Analyzing and evaluating supervisory practice. In ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management (ED 458707).

Sunday, May 22, 2005

What I Do

I specialize in helping change leaders create and sustain systemwide change in school districts. I've published 8 books on that topic. My website is www.thefmduffygroup.com.

I am also the founding editor of Rowman & Littlefield Education's Leading Systemic School Improvement Series. You can visit the website for that series at http://www.rowmaneducation.com/Series/. Once there, click the link for the series.

I have 30+ years experience in education, including service as a high school teacher. I am certified in Pennsylvania as a special education teacher, special education supervisor (K-12), supervisor of curriculum and instruction (K-12), and as an assistant executive director for intermediate units. My Bachelor of Science degree is in special education from Mansfield University in Pennsylvania. My Masters of Education and Doctor of Philosophy degrees are in curriculum and supervision from the University of Pittsburgh where I studied under Morris Cogan, one of the developers of Clinical Supervision. I have a second master’s degree in business management from The Johns Hopkins University. I also held an honorary faculty position at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1980 that was sponsored by Professor Chris Arygris where I studied Argyris’ ideas about personal and organizational learning.

I am a tenured Professor of Change Leadership in Education at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. where I teach a set of five doctoral-level courses on organization improvement: interpersonal and group behavior in organizations, organization development and the management of change, organization theory and design, organization diagnosis, and redesigning organizations.

I also served as a Faculty Associate at The Johns Hopkins University teaching a course on “Systemic Change in Schools” and he was a 2002-2003 Education Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C.

I am a member and past president of the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision (COPIS), which includes Professors Thomas Sergiovanni, Ben Harris, Robert Anderson, Ed Pajak, Ralph Fessler, Art Costa, Carl Glickman, and many others. I am also a former member of the board of directors for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and a former nominee for the ASCD office of president-elect. I am an active member of the National Council for Professors of Education Administration and Phi Delta Kappa.

Please visit my website for addtional information about my philosophy for and approach to improving whole school systems. The address for that site is www.thefmduffygroup.com.

I am the author of journal articles, chapters, and books on instructional supervision and systemic school improvement. Examples of my publications include:

Books


Duffy, F. M. & Chance, P. L. (2007, in press). Strategic communication during whole system change: Advice and guidance for school district leaders and PR specialists. Leading Systemic School Improvement Series. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Duffy, F. M. (2006). Power, politics and ethics in school districts: Dynamic leadership for systemic change. Leading Systemic School Improvement Series. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Duffy, F. M. (2004). Moving upward together: Creating strategic alignment to sustain systemic school improvement. No. 1, Leading Systemic School Improvement Series. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press

Duffy, F. M. (2003). Courage, passion, and vision: A superintendent’s guide to leading systemic school improvement. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press and the American Association of School Administrators.

Duffy, F. M. (2002). Step-up-to-excellence: An innovative approach to managing and rewarding performance in school systems. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Duffy, F. M. & Dale, J. D. (2001). Creating successful school systems: Voices from the university, the field, and the community. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Duffy, F. M., Rogerson, L. G., & Blick, C. (2000). Redesigning America’s schools: A systems approach to improvement. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Duffy, F. M. (1996). Designing high-performance schools: A practical guide to organizational reengineering. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.

Chapters

Duffy, F. M. (2007, in press). Systems thinking and systems dynamics: The pillars of transformational whole-system change in school districts. In B. Després (2005, under review). Systemic thinking in education. AERA annual.

Duffy, F. M. (1996). Should supervision be influenced by business management? Yes. In J. Glanz & R. Neville (Eds.). Educational Supervision: Perspectives, Issues, & Controversies. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Duffy, F. M. (1998). The ideology of supervision. In E. Pajak & G. Firth (Eds.). Handbook of research on school supervision. Indianapolis, IN: Macmillan General Reference.

Reigeluth, C.M., & Duffy, F.M. (2005). Trends and Issues in P-12 Educational Change. In R.A. Reiser & J.A. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.


Articles

Duffy, F. M. (2006). Step-Up-To-Excellence: A change navigation protocol for transforming school systems. Available at http://cnx.org/content/m13656/latest/.

Duffy, F. M. (2006, under review). Trust, commitment, and collaboration: Necessary conditions for leading whole-system change in school districts. School Leadership Review.

Duffy, F. M. (2005, summer). Navigating whole-system change in school districts: What school public relations specialists need to know to support the process. Journal of School Public Relations, 26(3).

Duffy, F. M. (2005, spring). Instructional supervisors as change leaders. AERA Instructional Supervision Special Interest Group Newsletter.

Duffy, F. M. (2004, summer). The destination of three paths: Improved student, faculty and staff, and system learning. The Educational Forum, 68 (4): 313-324.

Duffy, F. M. (2004). Step-Up-To-Excellence: Transforming school systems to
become knowledge-creating organizations. The Fourth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations. University of Greenwich London, UK 3-6 August 2004. On-line at http://managementconference.com/ProposalSystem/Presentations/P000531.

Duffy, F. M., Houlihan, G. T., & Horne, J. F. (2004, August). How to transform an entire school system: The future in the present tense. Proceedings of the World Future Society National Conference.

Duffy, F. M. (2004, January). Navigating whole district change: Eight principles for moving an organization upward in times of unpredictably. The School Administrator, 61 (1): 22 - 26.

___________. (2003, Fall) (guest editor). Communicating in times of great change. Special theme issue of the Journal of School Public Relations.

___________(2003, Winter). Dancing on ice: Navigating change to create whole-district school improvement. Organization Development Journal.

____________(2003, Winter). I think, therefore I resist change. Journal of Staff Development, 24 (1), 30-36.

____________(2002, Winter). Courage, passion, and vision: Leading systemic school improvement. International Journal of Educational Reform,11 (1): 63 -76.

Duffy, F. M. (2000 Winter). Reconceputalizing instructional supervision for 3rd millennium school systems. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 15 (2), 123-145.

Duffy, F. M. (1997 January). Knowledge work supervision: Transforming school systems into high performing learning organizations. International Journal of Educational Management, 11 (1), 26-31.

Duffy, F. M. (1997 May). Supervising teaching, not teachers. Educational Leadership, 54 (8), 78-83.