Transforming Organizations

Systems that regulate behavior in schools are transformed from organizations that produce compliance and attendance to organizations that nurture attention and commitment. Transforming school districts from bureaucracies to learning organizations requires that school leaders make conscious decisions to do so and that these leaders gain the insights and skills needed to develop in others the commitment and capacities to move their agenda forward.

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Connect with the Schlechty Center for …

  • Strategic planning using our Strategic Change Agenda that moves beyond traditional strategic planning, providing an active, actionable, nimble process that maps a customized path for positive and lasting change.

  • Assessing the capacity of your schools and classrooms.

Examples of our offerings:

See a sample of our capacity tools and frameworks below:

  • Strategic Change Agenda, an active, actionable, nimble process that maps a customized path for positive and lasting change. This process includes a customized assessment process, focused conversations, goal setting, and action planning.

  • Taking Stock, assessing system performance organized around a future orientation, direction and focus, and strategic action

  • School and Classroom Standards, an instrument to promote analysis, dialogue, and action. These Standards focus the attention of principals and teachers on providing students with high content engaging schoolwork.

  • Walking to Learn, a system of observing, questioning, and listening to students and using the data to support teachers in understanding student engagement and how it is differentiated from compliance

  • Six Indicators of Capacity, a resource for school leaders to use in advance of a new program, project, or initiative

  • Frameworks used by the Schlechty Center to rethink systems:

    Images of School, illustrating the need for transformation

    Six Critical Systems, understanding the nature of social systems in the context of a learning organization

    Learning Organization versus Bureaucracy, assessing critical systems

    Culture and Structure of Schools, determining the capacity of the school to accept and nurture innovation