William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

Study Questions

1.) Discuss historical and legal changes in

educational policy since the 1950’s

which you see as reflecting core

American, democratic values.

2.) Regarding educational leadership on any

level, interpret the statement quoted in

Guthrie, “Power tends to corrupt, and

absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

Refer in your essay to specific moral,

legal and ethical issues in educational

leadership centering on resource use, use

of position to promote personal financial

or other aims, separation of authority

relationships, etc.

3.) Discuss the introduction of scientific

management techniques and the

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importation of these from business into

education settings.

4.) Discuss key attributes of educational

policy: historical, economic, sociological,

philosophical, ethical, moral and legal

perspectives.

5.) Explain the statement “Education cannot

be considered apolitical” in the context of

this summary.

6.) Explain the statement, “Education is a

moral undertaking” in the context of this

summary.

Discussion

According to Fowler, the term ‘policy’ derives from political science.

Fowler offers several definitions of ‘policy’ but the most recent she gives is:

“[Public policy] includes both official enactments of government, not simply

what the government does” (Cibulka quoted in Fowler 2000, p. 8). Other

definitions are given and include that it is ‘the expressed intentions…of

government’, the ‘outputs of a political system’, a ‘chain of decisions’, and

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‘substantive decisions, actions, and commitments’. All of these represent

various perspectives on the definition of policy. Fowler notes that leadership

and policy formation come through talk in its various forms.

The following areas are important to become familiar with in regard

to policy: historical, economic, sociological, philosophical, ethical, moral

and legal perspectives.

Historical perspective suggests that policy analysis began at the turn

of the last century, but did not come into its own until after World War II. At

this time the U.S. government, notably the departments of State and Labor

began employing economists and statisticians to gather, use and analyze

data. The data were the basis for recommendations on their findings

((Nelson, 1991; Weimer & Vining, 1992, in Fowler, p. 18). The War on

Poverty expanded the role of policy makers in education and other

government branches. Education policy first began to be analyzed using the

ERIC database between 1969-1981. Policy analysis offers a variety of

frameworks for government to use to think about problems and solutions.

Educational policy issues since World War II were marked by two

trends :the post-war era demand for consumer goods, and a boom of

students. The school population exploded from 30 to 52 million with a

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concomitant expansion in building, raising taxes, and teacher employment.

In the mid 1950s attention turned away from growth as a major issue and

toward civil rights, especially with the Brown vs. Board decision, 1954.

(Please see websites for a detailed accounting of major court cases affecting

education.) Federal intervention and programs expanded in the 60s, and

finance reform came about in the 70s. There was continued emphasis

through these means on providing equality. Equality became a major value

and focus for concern in the post war era. Social justice issues centered on

race, ethnicity, access to services and the defeat of segregation (Brown

decision). Access to education for handicapped students (Education for All

Handicapped Children Act or ESEA, 1975) became a major movement in

education. Bilingual education proclaimed the right to instruction in their

home language for non-English or limited English students in the Lau v

Nichols case. Migrant education federal and state governments have enacted

financial categorical aid programs to assist moving families.

Beyond the major court cases, were developments in society which

affected education––some of these having to do with events beyond U.S.

boundaries, as well as with Cold War issues. In 1957, Sputnik impacted

education in all aspects, affecting finances, curricula, etc., and bringing

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about passage of the 1958 National Defense Education Act. In 1966, the

Coleman Report indicated that schools appeared to have little influence on

achievement that was independent of the social backgrounds of individual

students. This lead the public to conclude that schools had no effect and that

school dollars were wasted.

The actors who influenced education came from public, interest

groups, educators, politicians, federal, state and local government and the

three branches within each of these (executive, legislative and judicial).

States have the primary responsibility for education policy. They are

influenced by education and political systems theory (Please see diagram, p.

55).

One political definition on education, provided by Fowler (2000), states that

political culture is a collective way of thinking about politics that includes

beliefs about the political process, its proper goals, and the appropriate

behavior of ‘actors’ within political institutions. Political systems on the

other hand are sets of formal structures and laws. Guthrie, (p.210) discusses

regional preferences regarding education––indicating that diverse regions of

the U.S. and Canada stress different values. (See chart p. 210, please for

detail on regional values.)

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There are three basic political cultures in the U.S. They are traditional

(the state of Texas, other Southern states are identified with this one),

moralistic (includes Utah and other Western states) and individualistic

(New York, other east coast states).

Education, money and politics are bound together, such that education

accounts for 7% of the national budget, touches 60 million students and

inculcates values––thus it cannot be considered apolitical (Guthrie, p. 54).

Political systems theory (Guthrie, p. 56) indicates that schools process

inputs (public resources) and outputs tied to societal expectations

(socialized students).Systems ‘loop’ supports and demands in a circular

conversion process. (See diagram., p. 56.)

Practical politics (p. 81) for school administrators indicate that it

would be prudent to know political relationships in your district, employ an

eclectic approach in determining the power structure, read in a variety of

sources, avoid pre-conceptions about patterns of relationships, take into

account vertical and horizontal patterns of influence, and be mindful or

federal and state laws and events as well as of local issues.

Max Weber’s theories on bureaucracy are highly respected and

frequently cited. He identified 3 types of authority (Guthrie, p. 193)

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classified as follows. Traditional authority reflects the social order, and is

not readily changed. Charismatic authority rests on devotion to a particular

leader and ideals s/he represents. Rational-legal authority rests on belief in

the supremacy of law (i.e., Constitutional law). Weber defined ‘bureaucracy’

as a rational administrative system for the effective management of complex

organizations (Guthrie, p. 191) (Please see chart page 192.) Fowler identifies

types of power including force, economic dominance, authority and

persuasion (Fowler, 2000, p. 31).

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Guthrie, (pp. 232-239) states that leadership effectiveness depends on

leadership traits such as need for achievement, self-confidence, need for

socialized power, desire to compete with peers, high energy, persuasiveness,

technical and other skills. “Power influence” is determined, according to

Etzioni, mentioned in Guthrie, by the means for securing compliance

(physical, material or symbolic). Weber held that power is separate and

distinguishable from authority, and power amounts to a leader’s being in a

position to carry out her/his own will despite resistance, whereas authority

derives from law. French and Raven provide five sources of power: reward,

coercive, legitimate (authority vested in a position) and expert power. The

behavioral approach appears in an Ohio University study, producing two

classifications, namely, ‘initiating structure’ and ‘consideration’. Likert

identified “job-centered” and “employee-centered” behavioral approaches.

Cartwrith and Zander looked at ‘goal achievement’ (Guthrie, p. 234).

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Contingency theorists claim that effective leadership is a function of

interaction of behavior style and situational variables. Fiedler identifies task

and relationship orientation as defining effectiveness. Hersey and Blanchard

tie leadership to maturity levels with telling, selling, participating and

delegating representing points along the leadership-maturity continuum. The

transformational leadership approach refers to motivating others to higher

levels than they formerly believed they could achieve. In contrast to the

‘supernatural’ qualities of charismatic leaders, transformers may be

charismatic, but also possess strong vision (Bennis & Nannus).

Guthrie (p. 232) defines the actions and attributes of leaders who will

effectively create policy as follows: Decision-making is “…the process

through which a plan for action is selected from at least two alternatives.

Decision-making involves several steps, including specifying the problem,

analyzing its components, developing strategies or alternatives for resolving

the problem, selecting the best alternative, developing and implementing an

action plan, evaluating effectiveness of the plan, and recycling as necessary

(Guthrie, 1991, p. 241).”

Characteristics of school bureaucracy include the following (Guthrie,

p. 194) separation of authority relationships, and fixed division of labor.

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Within these relationships, professional personnel, who are selected on the

basis of technical knowledge follow implicit rules governing their

performance, and know and act upon the expectation that personnel are

separated from official property and means of production. Hence, there is no

such thing as “my office” or “my teachers”.

Philosophical perspectives include the important one that public

schools serve dozens of purposes, and it is more important that they be

educationally effective than efficient, according to Guthrie. Further,

education continues to be more craft than science. The core value in

resources of time, money, effort allocation should be to identify that an

activity is “useful”––and then that is conducted in a cost-effective manner.

Tyack and Callahan have discussed economic perspectives in terms of

the “cult of efficiency” in education, an early 20th century phenomenon that

continues into the present day. The idea was that the introduction of

scientific management principles would legitimize schools in the same sense

as business activities were legitimized. Patterning education after business

models continues today, hence, ‘accountability’.

Leadership traits include the following characteristics that are related

to morality and ethics, in combination with efficiency, as against mere

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expediency: to serve clients effectively, and above all to have a sense of

purpose that leaders and followers can articulate. It involves defining and

being able to undertake the steps needed to accomplish goals for the

organization. Vision involves the way the leader expresses the vision, and

incorporates it into the culture of the organization (Guthrie, 1991, pp. 11-

12).

Integrity refers to honesty and fairness and being forthcoming with,

rather than withholding the truth. “Education is a moral undertaking”

(Guthrie, 1991, p. 14). Integrity in educational administration means being

free of deceit, and mindful that resources, be they human, material, or

resources of influence, are related to the public trust, and therefore not to be

exploited for personal gain, or for the gain of associates, or of family

members.

A key component of leadership and policymaking is the ability of a

leader to assess and appraise policies and procedures––and strategic

leadership necessitates appraisal (measurement). Appraisal is a task of

measurement and judgment, which are related to ethical and moral

considerations. Appraisal in policy making has external dimensions

including such factors as demographics, economics, public opinion, and

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socio-political dynamics all of which are classified as internal dimensions.

External dimensions include such dimensions as finances, employee morale,

outcome measurement, process measures, operational costs, and

organizational structures. These are the factors of appraisal, key activities in

the policy making process. Appraisal and policy and decision making are

predicated on the personality of the leader, and Fowler quotes Lord Acton,

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Fowler

adds that power is addictive.(Fowler, 2000, p.47). Corruption refers back to

issues of integrity, ethics and morality in the use of resources, as well as in

the reporting of success and failure.

Also under the rubric of moral/ethicical issues, activities related to

appraisal are included the topic of public values and school policy (detailed

on pg 26 of Guthrie). The values of equality, liberty and efficiency are

viewed as conditions that government should maximize, by an

overwhelming majority of citizens. These are embedded in our heritage, and

thought ‘good’ and ‘right’––value judgments.

Legal aspects of education are tied to judicial review, meaning that

judges can declare laws and policies unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is

one of the most powerful courts in the world––but the power of the fifty

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state court systems should not be overlooked State courts are particularly

active in the domain of public education as they make policy and have wide-

ranging importance. State courts have great power in the area of school

finance. Politically, legislators do not mind judges making unpopular

decisions because such decisions cannot hurt legislators in their next

campaign, according to Fowler, p. 85.

Courts play their role in political culture, which consists of “artifacts”

of the mindset distinguishing one society from another in terms of “the way

we do things here…” Political culture is a form of culture in which societies

express views and values about goals and good behavior and activities for

politicians (and school administrators). A political system is defined as a set

of formal structures and rules. (Fowler, 2000). An ideology is a coherent set

of values and beliefs about the ways social, political and economic systems

should be organized, and this applies to schools as well.

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Their activities have increased in recent decades to promote changes

that they regard as in their interest. For an issue to move from an “interest”

to a policy, it must reach the policy agenda, meaning that it must be read

about, discussed, become the subject of conferences, and so on. After much

discussion in the public forum an issue may become a legislative proposal––

a recommendation for a law or policy change.

The value of liberty in education was reflected in the Pierce v. Society

of Sisters decision of 1925, which affirmed the right of parents to chose

between public and private schools. Guthrie notes the mandatory nature of

schooling and states that school choice is the ‘proxy’ for liberty. Post War

schooling has emphasized liberty through diversity, client responsiveness,

and expansion of private choice of schooling. (Guthrie, pp. 34-35).

Educational planning and decision making have aspects and

dimensions which are impacted by economics, obviously directly tied to

resource allocation which is based on past experience, future projected and

and present (changing) dynamics. Guthrie, (pp. 258-277) notes three main

components which are planning (future oriented) and evaluation (past and

present oriented), with budgeting as the ‘bridge’ between them. Fowler notes

that economic decisions have political implications (Fowler, 2000, p. 58)

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Changes in demographics, such as women entering the work force in the

Baby Boom generation, and the rise of teen-age employment have impacted

education and educational policy. There is the obvious decline in parental

time with children, but also older sibling time with younger children has

declined.

Planning is a management process, which reduces uncertainty and

focuses organizational activities to use resources effectively, via a strategic

plan, defined as a strategy to arrive at a specific goal. A managerial plan

aims at problem solving using a multiplicity of approaches, employing

alternative strategies. Following implementation of plans, assessment comes

into play. There are several paradigms containing useful planning

techniques:

PERT stands for planning, evaluation, and review and comes out of

the navy. It is useful for managing large scale, multi-stage processes.

Linear programming, a form of resource allocation planning, is used

where one factor is to be optimized or minimized while others are held

constant.

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Queuing theory deals with time spent in various situations, averages,

and its use reveals assumptions of administrators, i.e., how much time is

“too long” to wait for a school bus.

Computer simulation models impute order to reality by positing

relationships between things and events. Deterministic models are set up

such that similar inputs always produce similar outputs. Stochastic models

deal with random events (as have occurred recently on a national level).

Definitions

Public policy includes both official enactments of government, not simply

what the government does.

An ideology is a coherent set of values and beliefs about the ways social,

political and economic systems should be organized, and this applies to

schools as well.

Political culture is a collective way of thinking about politics that includes

beliefs about the political process, its proper goals, and the appropriate

behavior of ‘actors’ within political institutions.

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Political systems are sets of formal structures and laws.

Traditional authority reflects the social order, and is not readily changed.

Charismatic authority rests on devotion to a particular leader and ideals s/he

represents.

Rational-legal authority rests on belief in the supremacy of law (i.e.,

Constitutional law.

Appraisal is a task of measurement and judgment.

Bureaucracy is a rational administrative system for the effective

management of complex organizations.

Fowler identifies types of power including force, economic dominance,

authority and persuasion (Fowler, 2000, p. 31).

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Decision-making is the process through which a plan for action is selected

from at least two alternatives.

Interest groups are associations, usually formally organized, attempting to

influence public policy.

The following is a list of websites that are useful for understanding

aspects of public policy as they relate to educational leadership:

The Educational Policy Analysis Archives provide full text articles

dating from the years between 1993-2001. They are full-text, and deal with

significant court cases.

http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/

The Center on Educational Policy

http://www.ctredpol.org/

The Texas Legislator On-Line website is

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/edtoc.html

On this site, see chapters 1-46 for school law cases.

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Resources

Duke, D .L . & Canady, R . L . (1991). School policy. New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Fowler, F . C . (2000) . Policy studies for educational leaders: an

introduction . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Guthrie, J . W . & Reed, R .J . (1991).Educational administration and policy:

effective leadership for American education. Boston, MA: Allyn and

Bacon .

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