Article by Cecily Garber
Consider this situation: Your school’s enrollment is dwindling and you need to attract more students for certain grades. Do you assume that marketing and recruitment efforts are inadequate? Perhaps you need to hire a consultant or specialist? Yet the real cause could lie elsewhere, in your school’s academic reputation or lack of extracurricular offerings — any number of factors.
Dr. Scott Bauer
Education researchers Scott Bauer and Anne-Marie Balzano believe that too often schools spring for silver bullet, one-size-fits-all solutions and neglect to study the root cause of their problems and their particular contexts. Another common pitfall is failing to consider potential barriers in implementing change. When this happens, not only do old problems fester, but sometimes new issues spring up in their wake.
This is why Bauer and Balzano dwell on the process of change at schools. “We are maniacal in our insistence that [school] teams spend time developing a deep understanding of the problems they identify, a step often omitted in the interest of rushing to solutions,” they said. They have found that the better school leaders understand the root causes of problems in their institutions, the more likely those leaders are to implement solutions that stick and are appreciated by faculty, staff, students and families.
Bauer and Balzano’s “root cause analysis” consists of five steps. First, define the performance gap. Second, talk with those in your school community and schools like yours to gather information about possible causes. Third, see what academic research has to say about the problem. Fourth, hypothesize possible causes and determine which ones can be tackled. Fifth, rank the order in which the school should address sources of the problems.
Different causes carry different weights, and not all may need to be addressed. Furthermore, not all causes are under a school’s control, said Bauer and Balzano. Conducting extensive research into root causes and carefully weighing different options are time consuming but worthwhile, as the resulting changes are much more likely to work and save a school resources in the long run.
Bauer and Balzano have developed this process through conducting their own research at schools and advising graduate students who lead school teams in the process of implementing change. They said a huge part of their students’ learning experience is working with “the messiness and complexity of change involving teachers, students and families in organizations that have power structures, resource issues, legal and policy-related constraints” — in other words, business officers’ everyday life.
Effective change-making processes are far more than abstract ideas; they have a real impact on schools’ ultimate missions to educate students. “Research suggests that effective leadership is second only to quality teaching in terms of factors that schools can control that impact student learning,” said Bauer and Balzano. Careful inquiry into root causes pays off.
The 2017 NBOA Annual Meeting will take place February 26-March 1 in Washington, D.C. Scott Bauer and Anne-Marie Balzano will speak at the Business Officer Breakfast (by invitation only) Wednesday, March 1, 7:30–10 a.m. For information and to register, visit nboaannualmeeting.org.
Cecily Garber is NBOA’s manager, editorial content, and the assistant editor of Net Assets.
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