Involvement of Stakeholders in the Decision-Making Process

One of the items on the school culture survey that I reflected on was the involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making process, especially in regards to second order change. It is obvious that as school administrators, we need to include our staff. However, I think it is equally important to include students, parents, and community groups. While designing our 9th grade academy at WHS, we surveyed our soon to be 10th graders on what could be done to increase the overall success rate and smooth the transition for incoming ninth graders. The insights from the students acted as an additional dimension in the 9th grade academy vision. Most of the kids were brutally honest about the lack of student accountability and district policies that allow for this to occur. I wish we, as a team, would have solicited parents for input. The most challenging group of stakeholders to target would be the uninvolved parents and the parents who do not recognize or acknowledge the value of an education. Even though they choose not to be part of daily school events, they contribute to school culture and climate through their students. Finally, what about community partners and senior citizens? Both groups can be politically, economically and socially influential. Senior citizens and local business owners can provide a dose of reality to the decision-making process involved with second order change.