Organizational Development Plan

Organizational Development

Organizational development exists to provide an organization a planned coordination of the activities, that have a number of people for the achievement of common explicit purposes or goals through the division of labor and function, and through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility (Schmuck et al., 2012). This type of development would be considered an act or process, a result or state of being that is developed, to promote growth, to evolve the possibility of improvement, and to further a study so that it can be enhanced.

Settings

The Bennington school where the Organizational Development (OD) Plan will be implemented carries a unique structure due to the rural area of Southern Vermont which services part of New York state, three counties in Southern Vermont, and parts of Western Massachusetts, and is filled with prosperous nature scenes that makes this school a perfect place for learning. The administration of the private school is responsible for the output of its program, and to make sure it runs successfully. The current school environment values innovation, creativity, and encourages students to be active members of their community. Parents, teachers, and students of the school are empowered to help guide their school in the right direction so that they can play, learn, and grow in Southern Vermont.

OD Design

Survey-data-feedback design was selected as the design plan for this project. According to Schmuck et. al. (2012), the survey-data-feedback design is when “data feedback is given to the district leadership team. The model called for the leadership team to use data to identify areas for improvement and weave the improvement opportunities into their annual strategic planning renewal meeting” (p. 67). This model “also called for members of the district leadership team to involve the site principals in analyzing the site-level information and develop solutions to identified implementation problems” (Schmuck et al., 2012).

Diagnosis

It would be best to give a diagnosis which is considered the “data-collection stage of an OD Intervention” (Schmuck et al., 2012). The data collected is to identify the means of the problem that occurred at my school in Southern Vermont with the decline of the student population. Most families are moving out of Vermont due to the lack of education a student would receive in a private or public school. This problem is caused by funding issues and high property taxes in the state of Vermont.

The data that was collected shows a decline of the student population from 1997 to 2015, and shows since 1997 there were 103,000 students in Vermont where today it has fallen to 78,000 in 2015, and in my current school today the number of students are 6,500 in 2017. The problem is the declining of student population due to families moving out of Vermont due to high property taxes, higher school budgets, and poor quality of education due to funding it needs to keep so that it can support student learning.

Planning

The planning stage, “involves both district and site level principals and site leadership teams in solving priority problems” (Schmuck et al., 2012). In this stage, a “detailed action plan was created and incorporated into the schools’ plans” (Schmuck et al., 2012) that included three smart manageable goals that can be measurable in solving the problem. The three goals are: 1. Establish the overall direction for and focus on the program. 2. Define the scope of what the program is and how to attract parents to enrolling their children at this school. 3. Serve the organization so that program objectives can be created.

Implementation

The implementation stage “entailed putting the action plans into effect at both district and school site levels. Because each site tailored their plans to meet site specific needs, there was full support by teacher and parents for this implantation” (Schmuck et al., 2012). The implementation plan, as we have established, focuses on inviting students and parents to be a part of the program, and will gain the attention of the community. The school defined the scope of what the program is about, which will develop the minds of each student with real-world problem solving and offer assistance so that each student can succeed with their specific needs. Each staff, teacher, and students will serve the organization so the program objectives can be created and met for the future of tomorrow.

Target System Participants

Participants will include the Private School teachers, staff, and the superintendent of the Southwest Supervisory Union in Southern Vermont. The facilitators will be the Superintendent, Staff, and Principal of Bennington School.

Problem Analysis and Recommendations

The issue or problem that is faced in my school is the decline of student population because most families are moving out of Vermont because of the lack of education a student would receive in a private or public school. For now, private schools seem to be safeguarded because most parents have decided to take their children out of the public Vermont school to attend a private Vermont school, however, the problem is rising and all across the state of Vermont schools are losing students. The current school I teach at is private and is fairly new to the area has classroom sizes of 20 or fewer students and rapidly declining. According to Vermont Public Radio (2015) “Since 1997, there were 103,000 students in Vermont where today it has fallen to 78,000 in 2015” (para. 1) and in my current, school the number of students are 6500. The issue or problem is faced with the declining of student population due to families move out of Vermont because high property taxes, higher school budgets, and poor quality in some small towns trying to afford to pay for the education it needs to keep and support students learning.

Based on my analysis above, my current school which is still new to the Vermont educational system has a total population of 6500 and only because parents decided to transfer their children out of the public schools and into private schools where they can have a bit more say of what students are learning. To improve my organization, I would call in Special-interest OD design for bringing stakeholder voices into the decision-making Schmuck, Bell, & Bell (2012) to try and increase the school’s population, but also keep the costs low to our parents who have transferred their children over or are in the process of thinking about transferring to a private school in Vermont.

The recommendation should require the decisions that are made to increase the population, to provide an effective method that stays on course so that the organization can gain its benefits. According to Fullan (2011) a resolute leader, in the case the stakeholders consider “using their change to savvy such leading progression that is focused and determined to pull the organization through by mobilizing and developing others in the organizations” (p. 31) so that they can be a part of increasing the population of the school as a whole.

Goals

The following goals will assist the stakeholders in increasing a private school’s student populations. 1. an honest assessment of your website’s overall health, content, and ease of use is the first step on a path to better conversion rates. Questions to solve and answer would be: a) How much will it cost? b) How long will it take? c) What will I get? Having those details along with an easy-to-find form to request more information, are the two most important steps in structuring the content on your website. 2. Add leverage for social conversation would bring a tool used in social media that will showcase the school itself and its personality that would catch the eye of the parents, and their children. 3. When the time is right stakeholders will measure and improve because if you can see the problem that exists, you can fix the problem, to improve the overall experience a student would receive when attending this private school. 4. Stakeholders will be proactive and specific as the first exchange with a prospective student is the beginning. Nurturing leads through the enrollment increase of students at the school, the school needs to be fun, and provide an experience that will shape minds to better the future of the world.

The three smart program goals that can be measurable in solving the problem are:

1. Establish the overall direction of the school’s program will involve; teachers, staff, and the principal.

2. Define the scope of what the program is and how to attract parents to enrolling their children at this school. The timeline given for this plan will be four months, that is from: May through August before the beginning of school on September 12.

3. The outcome of this will be by evaluating the school’s program choice by defining objectives created by teachers, staff, and the principal. Use a data collection of the questions and objectives created that will need to be focused on, and then determine an analysis of the data collected and data evaluation to make sure that the plan is still serving the needs of the private school.

Organizational Development Plan S-T-P

When looking for solutions to problems “the group should have reasonable skills in communicating, some skill at watching its own process in meetings, and some hope of agreeing on goals” (Schmuck et. al., 2012). As an example, during the last meeting our stakeholders, staff, and teachers came together to determine the issue, undermining the target and created a path that would develop a leading progression that would be focused and determined to pull the organization through. Each member of the meeting gave their own reflection on how the problem could be solved, and everyone agreed on the smart goals they would need to help them provide a path of forwarding with the solutions.

Stage 1 – Specifying the Problem

According to Schmuck et. al. (2012) “a group may come together to discuss a problem that is already well delimited in their minds,” and “good problem solving requires readiness” (p.155). Our stakeholders put together a savvy leading progression plan that will determine the success of the school that will define the problem, and determine the solution to move forward.

The Issue: Decline of student population over the first years of the new school opening due to families moving out of Vermont because of the lack of education a student would receive from a private and public school, and the high cost of property taxes in the state of Vermont.

The Target: Reinventing the school’s website that provides knowledge about what students will be learning, and why the school is the best for students to be enrolled in.

Our path: According to Fullan (2011) a resolute leader, in the case the stakeholders consider “using their change to savvy such leading progression that is focused and determined to pull the organization through by mobilizing and developing others in the organizations” (p. 31) so that they can be a part of increasing the population of the school as a whole.

Stage 2 – Helpful and Hindering Forces

It would be wise to understand what can be helpful to a small rural private school on the issues of population control. While the programs are being made, Schmuck et. al. (2012) stated to “avoid arguments and evaluation, suspend critical judgment, but encourage paraphrasing for clarity” (p. 160). Helpful and Hindering forces are as follows:

Action Plan

Based on the recommendations, the school’s principal will submit the proposed plan to the Superintendent that specifies the problem, provides helpful and hindering forces, an analysis of the problem and recommended goals so that stakeholders can succeed, and the diagnosis, planning, and ideas for implementation of this plan design can move forward. The idea is to understand the needs of the school, how it can perform better, and how the school can increase its population that can be prosperous in the Southern Rural area of Vermont.

Conclusion

Indeed, Survey-data feedback, as an OD Plan focus is the way to go, and provides the opportunity for members of the community; like: parents, teachers, staff, stakeholders, and students a chance to voice their opinion on the ongoing situation of their school. The evaluation of this data will lead to implementing strategies and planning for this Organizational Development plan that will bridge the gap of understanding the problem, and bring together its community to fulfill its destiny with purpose. The role of leadership here becomes the plan to implement its needs, ways to succeed, and will create a future for this private school in the rural area of Southern Vermont.

References

Bodette, M. & Wertlieb, M. (2015). Declining enrollment. Retrieved from http://digital.vpr.net/post/declining-enrollment-part-1-holcombe-says-its-time-talk-education-equity#stream/0.

Fullan, M. (2011). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Schmuck, R. A., Bell, S.E. & Bell, W.E. (2012). The handbook of organization development in

schools and colleges. Fifth Edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Exchange Point International.