Dancing lessons for elephants: Reforming Ed School leadership programs

Phi Delta Kappan

Volumn 87, Issue 7, 2006, Pages 489-491

  Murphy, Jerome T ^a,b,c  

^a Department of Education ^*  (United States)

^b HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33645152376     PISSN: 00317217     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/003172170608700705     Document Type: Review

References (18)

1. For a detailed exploration of the lowly status of education schools, see David F. Labaree, The Trouble with Ed Schools (New Haven: YaleUniversity Press, 2004).
2. This is not the only problem facing education schools. For an excellent discussion of the problems of research at education schools, see Patricia Albjerg Graham, Schooling America: How the Public Schools Meet the Nation's Changing Needs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), especially pp. 194-200.
3. Also, see Labaree, op. cit.
4. National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration, Leaders for America's Schools: The Report of the National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration (Tempe, Ariz.: University Council for Educational Administration, 1987).
5. Fifteen years ago, for example, I added my two cents in this journal, contending that most programs were in disarray, offering watered-down courses to part-time students with virtually any applicant gaining admission. See Jerome T. Murphy, "Superintendents as Saviors: From the Terminator to Pogo," Phi Delta Kappan, March 1991, pp. 507-13.
6. Better Leaders for America's Schools: A Manifesto (Washington, D.C.: Broad Foundation and Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 1 May 2003), p. 14.
7. Arthur Levine, Educating School Leaders (Washington, D.C.: The Education Schools Project, March 2005), especially pp. 23-48.
8. While I applaud Levine's report, in my view he goes too far in dismissing pockets of excellence - not a single American program meets his high standards. While he cites two "strong" programs - one at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and one at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University - in my experience there are other exemplars doing innovative work. For example, there is the Urban Superintendents Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Mid-Career Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the Penn Graduate School of Education. For a fuller critique of Levine's analysis, see Michelle D. Young et al., "An Educative Look at 'Educating School Leaders,' " University Council for Educational Administration, University of Missouri, Columbia, 18 March 2005. Available at www.ucea.org.
9. Kenneth Leithwood et al., How Leadership Influences Student Learning (New York: Wallace Foundation, September 2004).
10. Warren G. Bennis and James O'Toole, "How Business Schools Lost Their Way," Harvard Business Review, 1 May 2005, pp. 96-104;
11. and Henry Mintzberg, Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2004).
12. Richard H. Hersh and John Merrow, eds., Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
13. Anemona Hartocollis, "Who Needs Education Schools?," Education Life, special supplement, New York Times, 31 July 2005, pp. 24-28.
14. See also Frederick M. Hess, "The Predictable, but Unpredictably Personal, Politics of Teacher Licensure," Journal of Teacher Education, May/June 2005, pp. 192-98.
15. For a thoughtful commentary on the multiple dimensions of the problem, see Ted Sanders, "Preparing School Leaders - Shared Responsibilities," Education Week, 6 April 2005, pp. 48, 36-37.
16. There's scant research about the effects of most university programs, and thus, not surprisingly, there's little empirical evidence that documents what works in educational administration. See Stephen Davis et al., School Leadership Study: Developing Successful Principals (Stanford, Calif: Stanford Educational Leadership Institute, 2005). However, there is a lot of informed opinion about promising practices, drawing on experience and research that suggest avenues for action.
17. I agree with Teitel's assessment and - given the magnitude of the task - also agree that it is unlikely that these alternative routes alone will solve the problem.
18. The "dancing elephants" metaphor is not new. See James A. Belasco, Teaching the Elephant to Dance: The Manager's Guide to Empowering Change (New York: Penguin, 1990).