Making Schools Work: A Revolutionary Plan to Get Your Children the Educ

By William G. Ouchi

Book Overview

Introducing a bold, persuasive new argument into the national debate over education, Dr. William Ouchi describes a revolutionary approach to creating successful public schools.

This program has produced significant, lasting improvements in the school districts where it has already been implemented. Drawing on the results of a landmark study of 223 schools in six cities, a project that Ouchi supervised and that was funded in part by the National Science Foundation, Making Schools Work shows that a school's educational performance may be most directly affected by how the school is managed.

Ouchi's 2001-2002 study examined innovative school systems in Edmonton (Canada), Seattle, and Houston, and compared them with the three largest traditional school systems: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Researchers discovered that the schools that consistently performed best also had the most decentralized management systems, in which autonomous principals -- not administrators in a central office -- controlled school budgets and personnel hiring policies. They were fully responsible and fully accountable for the performance of their schools. With greater freedom and flexibility to shape their educational programs, hire specialists as needed, and generally determine the direction of their school, the best principals will act as entrepreneurs, says Ouchi. Those who do poorly are placed under the supervision of successful principals, who assume responsibility for the failing schools.

An essential component of this management approach is the Weighted Student Formula, a budgetary tool whereby every student is evaluated and assessed a certain dollar value in educational services (a non-English-speaking or autistic student, or one from a low-income family, for example, would receive a higher dollar value than a middle-class student with no special needs). Families have the freedom to choose among public schools, and when schools must compete for students, good schools flourish while those that do poorly literally go out of business.

Such accountability has long worked for religious and independent schools, where parents pay a premium for educational performance. Making Schools Work shows how the same approach can be adapted to public schools. The book also provides guidelines for parents on how to evaluate a school and make sure their child is getting the best education possible.

Revolutionary yet practical, Making Schools Work shows that positive educational reform is within reach and, indeed, already happening in schools across the country.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439150451
• ISBN13: 9781439150450
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

School Reform 101

Anyone who complains about public schools should read this book. It is going to be VERY important to the national dialog about how we pull up our socks and get busy making things better. I know you are busy, so I encourage you to do a good old college-style "gut the book" exercise on this one. It reads well and is only as long as it needs to be (262 uncrowded pages). Speed-devour 100 pages a night and you can get the essence in 2 stints. I've been voraciously consuming education reform literature, and this one is by far the best of the lot. It gives me a considerable sense of hope that Governor Schwartzenegger has read it and reportedly gave it to some people as a Christmas present. I suspect that this will be a book that many, many people read and talk about.Prof. Ouchi worked with a team of researchers to analyze the organizations of hundreds of schools and districts, documenting trends in function and dysfunction and examples of turnarounds. He took the findings and synthesized them into seven "keys." He does a great, sensitive job of explaining how none of these alone is the magic answer -- rather, progress is made by working on all seven together. One of the super things about this book: it is very grounded in the reality that education is about people. He speaks to the reader as a potential reformer, and never gets highfalutin or pessimistic. He reminds the reader often that the people involved almost never WANT bad things to happen. Things just seem to work out that way when the organization is busted. The "Keys" are:1) Every Principal is an Entrepreneur2) Every School Controls its Own Budget3) Everyone is Accountable for Student Performance and for Budgets4) Everyone Delegates Authority to Those Below5) There Is a Burning Focus on Student Achievement6) Every School Is a Community of Learners7) Families Have Real Choices Among a Variety of Unique SchoolsAnother great thing about the book: it prepares you to get involved constructively in making YOUR school or district better. This is not just an academic exercise -- it's a plan for bringing better results.

An easy read for anyone concerned about PublicEducation

An easy must read for all!This book is a must read. As a parent activist and public school teacher, this book is a great handbook to revolution in the schools. An easy read, he highlights good things going on and tells you how to evaluate your school in simple words. He also grants permission to everyone and anyone to question the current system, and then take action to decentralize it. It is a practical handbook to empower the public and creat revolutionary change in public education. READ IT AND PASS IT ALONG TO YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS TOO!

Making Schools Work

This book explains how the organization of a school system can affect student performance. It is filled with stories and data that are interesting, uplifting and compelling. I especially like Professor Ouchi's response to the question, "What makes a school great?" His Seven Keys to Success are "right on," in my opinion. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding why some schools and school systems work while others do not.

Highly recommended

This is a book that I fervently hope will start a revolution in America's schools. It's message, one that calls for leadership by empowered principals rather than a conformist bureaucracy, is based on impeccable research and is delivered with fluid, engaging prose. I recommend it to anyone who cares about our children and their future.

A fascinating book on the problems of schools in America

William Ouchi does a terrific job of outlining the basic problems in the public school system today. From there he offers valuable insight into many solutions that can be applied to our ailing public school system. It's painfully clear that we must do more in order to fix our educational system.Thie book is a terrific read from start to finish, and I highly recommend it!