Cage-Busting Leadership by Rick Hess - Book Report/Review Example

 Cage-Busting Leadership by Rick Hess Introduction In his book Cage-Busting Leadership, Rick Hess, a director of education policy studies at American Enterprise Institute aptly elucidates about the American education system, which is faced by a great deal of challenges. He argues that, the state’s statutes, regulations, policies, contracts, rules, and the case laws all make it harder for leaders, systems and schools to maneuver through and initiate improvement, broaden learning, and contextualize classroom leadership. Additionally, he possess a challenge to the leaders of the education sector to transform, remodel, refocus, and to a greater extend exhilarate schooling, learning, and teaching. Further, he explicates tough decisions that need to be implemented to better the education sector and its beneficiaries. Claims made by Frederick M. Hess regarding Cage Leadership Education elites all blame personnel policies and education contracts when they do not deliver as expected of them. The sector of education is the most regarded institution worldwide because it is a factory that makes the most important and prominent personalities. Therefore, the policies on personnel and contracts need to focus on making schooling and learning environment better. The situation will in return reap the best out of the sector if the available valuable resources are aimed best aimed at the human resources. Hess and Loup (2008) found out that the personnel policies and teacher compensation guidelines in the U.S are very restrictive. Basically, on personnel policies, contracts are in place to guide the administrators and provide the managerial prerogatives they are thought to lack. Essentially, the administrators fail to take advantage of a more flexible language when negotiated. Instead, they keep blaming the contract for their inaction. For example, in a conversation by Managing Editor Angela Pascopella (2003), Hess retaliated to a question on challenges by saying that barriers tend to be contractual and regulatory. There exists a premium on conventional wisdom. There is more emphasis on conventional wisdom whilst ignoring the key opportunities of change. In this regard, Hess determined that, the teacher trainings often offer more emphasis to the standard procedures and requirements for education delivery while overlooking the opportunities of growth, development, and change of the individual personnel. Hess and Kelly (2007) carried out research on the education syllabi of the USA, they noted that, the personnel development and opportunities are given little attention. The education leaders and personnel are socialized to embrace the status quo. All the education leaders within the education system are drawn from their previous positions. Fundamentally, to be promoted to the principal’s seat, one must have held a preceding position as a teacher. It is evidenced that, almost all the principals had received trainings in leadership from the education institutions. The situation further puts premiums on consensus and collegiality hindering taking action on sanctions and rewards to better education in schools. Therefore, there is a rigid inclination towards non-confrontational strategies with an immense reluctance to adopt newer approaches (Johnson, Arumi, and Ott, 2006). Policies to Improve Education in New Jersey, America The introduction of a policy for administering grants to support the needs of education. It is imperative to introduce policies that support funding to the education system in the form of grants. The policies will boost and improve student achievements within the New Jersey State. It is achieved through the state government allocation funds to cater for the student needs. A policy of this kind is supported by the American Revolving and Reinvestment Act established in 2009. The policy needs to focus on elementary and secondary education in ensuring that no child is left behind. Therefore, it will enable all children to access education needed for everyday survival (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). Creation and adoption of a policy that permits use inherent implementation centers in college-career-readiness trainings exclusive to principals, teachers, and the school staff. The policy will ensure that the education facilities are easily accessible to all the districts at a low cost across the New Jersey. Moreover, this policy will allow a wide base of professionals into the education environment to reduce the high ratios of student teacher. Once implemented, more children will be able to access the education facilities at a low coast subsidized by the local and national governments (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). Impacts of GPA, STEM Education, and Urban Education Impacts of GPA When students are admitted based on high GPAs, there is an increased perception of attaining high grades. Essentially, the perception of the students on the tasks assigned to them will be higher resulting to increased performance (Pacharn, Bay, and Felton, 2013). The situation will render the students to be focused from the time of entry into college. In this case, there will be minimized college drop-outs as the students are focused on their studies. Achieving higher performances and retaining more students in college will furnish the institution’s name as a better facility. Movement of most students to the university facility would help attain sustainability (Parchan et al., 2012). On the contrary, high GPAs may lock out potential students who would otherwise become better personnel in various professions. Attaining a low GPA in high school does not translate to a student being a non-performer. Conditions may have not been favorable for them to achieve higher grades. Therefore, choosing those that outperformed them denies those with low grades a chance for higher education. In this case, students’ aspirations may dwindle making them to live in a state of regret (Hess and Kelly, 2007). Moreover, this state may trigger unhealthy conditions to one’s life. It is therefore important to consider individual grades per subject performed to determine the ability of students rather than a blanket GPA (Parchan et al., 2012). Impacts of STEM education The application of STEM instills power into the people with potentials to develop solutions that solve challenges facing humanity. For example, when students can use the STEM system of education, they can integrate what others are doing in the real situation through the virtual platform. The students then can learn and implement projects in their communities enhancing livelihoods The STEM-conversant students aid the states to compete in a global economy. The subjects featured in STEM involve those that steer the development of the economy, bolster the security of the economy, and raise the people’s living standards. Through the innovative technologies, people share and interact globally as opposed to traditional methods of communication. Experts in STEM predict more job openings when using the STEM technology. Indeed, it is a great opportunity for students to interact globally and open up their potentials Increased usage of the STEM technology on the other hand will lead to web addiction among students. Addiction has various negative impacts, health-related problems notwithstanding. For example, sight can be greatly affected in prolonged hours of computer usage. The actual social life also decline, creating room for virtual social life. An actual handshake to a person has more effect than a mere message through the virtual platforms. Impacts of urban education Education provided in the urban area focuses on skill development for the urban poor. It is vital to develop the skills of the poor people in the urban areas to ensure an improved livelihood. People acquire skills such as masonry, carpentry, and other technical skills to increase a likelihood of securing an informal job. It is also paramount to curb crime within the limits of densely populated areas with high scores of unemployed individuals. When more people lack an education, they tend to resort to crime hence rendering the state of a country insecure. For example, most uneducated youths tend to join terrorist groups as a source of income. The education in urban settings allows for enterprise development and management leading to increased economy. Therefore, as more people in the urban centers receive an education, the more they invest in various businesses boosting the GDP of a state. Sustainability of nation is reliant on the industriousness of its population. Conclusion The education sector is a multifaceted dimension that provides all sorts of professionals to a country. Investing in the education of a country and tailoring the best policies and resources to its development ensures reliability, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the individuals and a country as a whole. References Hess, F. M., & Kelly, A. P. (2007). Learning to lead: What gets taught in principal preparation programs? Teachers College Record, 109(1). Hess, F. M., & Loup, C. (2008). The Leadership Limbo: Teacher Labor Agreements in America's Fifty Largest School Districts. Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Johnson, J., Arumi, A. M., & Ott, A. (2006). The Insiders: How Principals and Superintendents See Public Education Today. Reality Check 2006. Issue No. 4. Public Agenda. Pacharn, P., Bay, D., & Felton, S. (2013). The Impact of a Flexible Assessment System on Students' Motivation, Performance and Attitude. Accounting Education, 22(2), 147-167. U.S. Department of Education. 2015. Turning Around the Lowest-Performing Schools. Web. April 10, 2015. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/esea-flexibility/resources/turn-around.pdf Read More