1.5 Combining forces in the development of programs and services:  (Page 3/7)

By 2010 the mayor intends to re-create more than 10 percent of the city’s schools—one-third as charter schools, one third as independently operated contract schools and theremainder as small schools run by the district (Dell’Angela&Washburn, 2004).

Movements and programs such as those mentioned above, begin to blur the lines that have traditionallyseparated schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and governmental agencies. The lack of leadership preparation to meetthe challenges of such collaborative educational endeavors should be a major concern of educational reform efforts.

Preparation programs

Universities can and should be instrumental in thinking "out of the box" in the development of schooladministrator preparation programs (Peterson and Finn, 1985). The University of Michigan-Dearborn is taking the lead in innovativeprogram development by combining the organizational worlds of the service sector through the integration of preparation programs ineducational administration and public administration. The combination of educational, governmental, and nonprofit agenciesworking together is something that occurs in school districts across the United States daily, as well as on an internationalbasis. Researchers have observed that combining the efforts of these agencies is a successful method of school improvement. Asstated by Newmann&Wehlage, (1995) in their study of successful school restructuring:

To build the organizational capacity required to promote student learning of high intellectual quality, schoolsneed support from beyond their walls. We found a wide variety of external agents attempting to help schools restructure. Theyincluded state legislatures, district administrators, universities, unions, professional organizations, foundations, courts, parents,and the federal government. In the schools we studied, districts, states, parents, and private nonprofit organizations working foreducational reform-we call them independent developers-were the most active and influential. (p. 41)

Incorporating the preparation of educational administrators in a program that combines multiple entities of theservice sector creates an atmosphere and educational setting for students that promotes greater mutual understanding of thefunctions of each sector and enhances the ability of these future leaders to work more efficiently and effectively together. Bolmanand Deal (1991) support the importance of preparing leaders with multiple perspectives when they state,

Leaders fail when they take too narrow a view of the context in which they are working. Unless they can thinkflexibly about organizations and see them from multiple angles, they will be unable to deal with the full range of issues that theywill inevitably encounter. (p. 450)

This broader view of organizational leadership can be utilized to improve educational administrationpreparation programs, educational systems as a whole, and ultimately student learning. Universities must "provide innovativeprograms and curriculum that will prepare educational leaders who have the courage, knowledge, and skills it will take to leadtomorrow's schools" (Lambert, 1995, p.6).