edbizbuzz
Public education’s core functions are teaching and learning, an endeavor in which private enterprise plays a growing role. Edbizbuzz was an opinion blog offering a perspective on this emerging school improvement industry. This blog is no longer being updated.
School & District Management
Opinion
K-12Lead of the Week
Current RFP from the October 8 issue of K-12Leads and Youth Service Markets Report.
School & District Management
Opinion
The Central Office (II): Dysfunctionality's Cause or Symptom?
Unlike teachers unions, bureaucracies don't block district change strategies as a matter of deliberate policy, individual obstructionism is rare, and incompetent individuals can be removed if their managers make it a priority.
School & District Management
Opinion
The School Improvement Market Beyond Education Agencies - Feds
Beyond the Department of Education, the federal government offers a cornucopia of opportunities for school improvement providers.
Education
Opinion
The Central Office (I): School Reform's Scapegoat
While there is no greater political sin than attacking teachers as a class, it's entirely acceptable to stereotype and demonize bureaucrats.
Education
Opinion
The School Improvement Market Beyond Education Agencies - States
When providers' revenues depend on specific streams of government funding subject to political risk (witness the NCLB reauthorization) taking an expanded view of the market is akin to taking out insurance against business interruption.
School & District Management
Opinion
And Another Thing (About Rhee)
If you were an MBA candidate discussing the District of Columbia’s public schools as a case study at the Harvard Business School, would you propose that the Chancellor treat her central office as demoralized troops, or an enemy army? Would you deal with poor performance as a series of individual cases, or would you favor blanket indictments of the organization? If you believed that central office performance was universally poor, would you propose that she dress the troops down in a staff meeting behind closed doors, or in front of the camera for national television? If you found that improvements in efficiency made it necessary to reduce staff, would you want the Chancellor to show some compassion in front of the press or tell radio reporters “that’s not my problem?”
School & District Management
Opinion
K-12's Public Education Market Extends Beyond "Education" Agencies
“[S]chool board OKs charter school at jail,” by Susie Gran in today’s Albuquerque Tribune illustrates that public education agencies are hardly the only source of business for school improvement providers. Federal and state agencies responsible for juvenile justice, workforce training, health and human services, and other government functions have significant needs for the same products, services and programs. More on this over the weekend.
Education
Opinion
Michelle Rhee: What Kind of a Leader?
The DC public schools Chancellor needs a central office staff no less than she needs teachers and principals - two groups she's been careful to embrace although they bear as much responsibility for the system's failures as the scapegoats in the bureaucracy.
School & District Management
Opinion
This Week's Podcast: Miller-McKeon's CSR Program Isn't CSR
The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program (CSRDP) sponsored by Democratic Representative David Obey and Republican John Porter, passed into law in 1998. Fencing off a portion of states’ Title I funds, the legislation created a market-based approach to school-level reform. Until it phased out of NCLB I by the Bush Administration in favor of Reading First (RF), the program was implemented in thousands of schools across America.
School & District Management
Opinion
K-12Lead of the Week
Florida Creates a Market-Based Reading Intervention Program for Failing SchoolsFrom the October 1 issue of K-12Leads and Youth Services Markets Report
School & District Management
Opinion
Following For-Profit Providers (IV): Industry Segments
The purpose of these postings has been to suggest that it's not impossible to get started on understanding the real supply side of school improvement.
School & District Management
Opinion
Following For-Profit Providers (III): Individual Firms
A brief intense research effort before purchasing a for-profit firm’s offerings, entering into some kind partnering arrangement, or investing in it, is basic due diligence.
School & District Management
Opinion
Following For-Profit Providers (II): The Big Picture
edbizbuzz readers are not the only ones navigating the school improvement industry without good maps, most providers are in the same boat.