Running head: PSUSD CULTURE

Palm Springs Unified School District Culture: An Integrative Analysis

Courtney Weber-Flesher December 1, 2012 EDUC 705 Dr. Moore-Stewart Integrative Essay

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Students will graduate prepared and motivated to succeed in their choice of career and higher education and to contribute to the common good. -PSUSD Mission Statement

Palm Springs Unified School District: Introduction & Background Palm Springs is located about 110 miles east of Los Angeles in the desert of Southern California. Palm Springs is a resort city with a seasonal population that consists of 43,500 people according to the 2011 census bureau. It is located in Riverside County within Coachella Valley; being the largest city in the county encompassing 93 square miles. A unique aspect of the city is that it is a targeted destination for retirees from all over the US and Canada, in conjunction as a Mecca for the gay community. Both of those subsets of people generally dont have school age children (though adoption among the gay community is becoming more common). This is most evident in reviewing the ethnicity make up of Palm Springs City- where about 75% is White, 23% Hispanic, and 1% African American and 1% Native American (Wikipedia.com). Later in this paper, the breakdown of the students ethnicities in the local school district will be analyzed and shown to be vastly different than the citys demographics. Nearly 15% of the households have children aged 0-18, 35% of households are opposite sex households, and 10% of households are same sex partnerships. The weather consists of dry heat and attracts many tourists in the winter season. According to Wikipedia.com, Palm Springs has summer weather that varies from 106112 degrees. The winter weather varies from 73-86 degrees. The winter months attracts many seasonal residents and because of such, tourism the main business in Palm Springs. Resorts are abundant as there are both cold and hot natural mineral springs

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below the city. The weather makes outdoor sporting activities quite popular- golf, tennis, horseback riding, and hiking. Golf resorts are plentiful. The golf course epidemic in Palm Springs is actually a quite controversial topic- as so much water is required to alter the sandy, cactus-laden desert into a lush green golf course. Even more water is needed to maintain these golf courses. Some of the Colorado River has been rerouted to supply enough water, which has angrily caused conflict among other states. Golf courses abundance in Palm Springs is another dissertation and wont be delved into in this paper. There are three different school districts in the Coachella Valley- Palm Springs Unified School District, Desert Sands USD, and Coachella Valley USD. Palm Springs local school district, PSUSD, services 23,604 students who attend twenty-nine comprehensive schools. PSUSD has four main departments and each has multiple subsets. The four departments include: Business Services, Educational Services, Educational Technology, and Human Resources. According to the California statewide CBEDS survey from 2011 (psusd.us), PSUSD employees approximately 1,000 teachers in Preschool through adult transition programs, elementary through high school. Being in the special education department at the district office affords me the opportunity to travel to each of the elementary school sites. Each site has its own culture and dynamics. For the purpose of this paper, I will evaluate the district as a whole, making generalizations from my experiences traveling onto campuses and being housed in the district office headquarters. The special education department is part of educational services and serves thousands of students who fall under the thirteen special education qualification areas in

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE the state of California. I oversee 53 teachers in 15 schools. The culture of the special education department is one of reactive discontent. There is unfortunately very little planning that can take place as the department deals mostly with legal binding paperwork, complaints, and litigation. As things arise, meetings must be held with parents, advocates and/or attorneys. In this type of environment, stress and fear reign

from the unknown coupled with leadership styles. Leadership is lacking to assist the staff in making informed and proactive decisions. In my job title, I am micromanaged and not allowed to make many decisions, despite attending meetings with parents every day. Frequently I have to call my boss to clear her approval with making nearly all decisions. It is very frustrating being the school district representative in a contentious meetings and having to step out, making quick calls to get permission on a mundane item. On most occasions, staff is left out of the loop or not informed of decisions that have been made. I have been reprimanded numerous times for responding too quickly to emails from teachers. Ive been given explicit instructions on waiting 24-48 hours to respond to parents and teachers. The staff is not made part of collective decision making processes and have low-to-zero ownership. Most employees who are specialists in special education department try not to come into the district office as the culture is extremely fear based. Workers are actually trying to not to get noticed (by the boss), dont take risks, have little responsibility, and are far from being a team player. Employees, in my experience, actually are avoiding doing too much work, as not to be noticed. Attention received is nearly always negative in nature. According to Staver (2012), fear based work cultures always start with the leaders management style. Leaders reduce fear by showing their employees that blame gaming and excuse making are no longer the status

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE quo. In order for a cultural shift to transpire, the leader must take an honest personal assessment. Victim mentality and powerlessness must be eliminated. Working with

others using a team approach, encouraging no excuses, is a significant cultural shift that must happen. According to Board (2012), in order for students require a nurturing environment where they feel secure to learn. I believe the same is for anyone in a work environment. Instead of high expectations toward achievement and test results as in the school setting for students, employees should exude high expectations for their work in a nurturing and safe environment saturated in encouragement. Mistakes happen. When we had the superintendent from San Bernardino City Unified School District, Dr. Marsden, visit our Saturday morning class, his most poignant comment was just thatallow mistakes. Own mistakes. Revel mistakes. Make them the catalyst for change. In my current work environment there is no allowance for mistakes. Mistakes are interpreted as weakness of character. Mistakes can cause a person to get belittled and/or yelled. In my plan to revamp my department, if I were the new director, mistakes are required! If employees dont have the opportunity to make mistakes, they dont grow. My department doesnt share information with one another and motivation has been shut down to try things differently. My co-workers dont do more than what is expected. In essence, people hide so as not to be noticed and put under scrutiny. How does a culture of this magnitude change? According to Assad (2012) in Small Business magazine: An employer cannot force ideas and innovations from employees, but positive work behaviors encourage new ways of thought. However, punishment discourages employees and hampers efforts to create or maintain a creative work environment. An employee who is subject to punishments often sees no reason to go above and beyond routine duties for various personal reasons, including anger at the way he is treated and the belief his work contributions do

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE not matter to the employer or management. He might not focus on work goals if

he is preoccupied with avoiding further disciplinary action. Employees who feel a frequent threat of punishment often pull apart instead of staying together to avoid standing out and becoming a target. Teamwork becomes nonexistent, as the employees become reluctant to help each other and expose themselves to management. Not only does this isolation harm morale, but also overall production and creativity suffers, and interpersonal problems may develop among the employees because of the situation (p. 1). Imagine how an organizational culture can be engineered and managed so as to serve the goals of schooling. My job as a school administrator is #1- serve students and #2- serve teachers. Administrators must manage their own agenda and remember that education is about students. Putting students first is top priority- not politics, angry parents, or unionized teachers who exude bully characteristics. When I take over a special education department (wherever and whenever that may be), I would start with conferences with every employee. I would divide this conversation between professional and personal. I would ask questions about the staff members ideology, goals, and personality traits. I would document each persons information and utilize this for professional learning communities. Then I would ask personal questions about family, places lived, or interests. I think its important during each meeting, I am completely focused on the individual staff member. They must feel important and my only priority is dialoging with them. I would then hold group forums and dialogue sessions. This opens communication, gets teacher buy-in and allows everyone an opportunity to be heard. When I first started my job, from day one, I was inevitably just left to my own devices. I felt like I was being annoying by asking so many questions about school sites,

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE job duties, or expectations. Still after four years, I struggle with what my job duties include and what others include. Because Im a team player, I am extra helpful and

willing to assist with any projects. People resent me for this and often gossip or call me a kiss-ass. My administration peers love to deflect more work onto me. My work temperament to be helpful and work hard and often times people have said to do less please. Work has been an important element in defining myself, which has been difficult in a non-nurturing environment where little encouragement reigns. Ive had to learn in the past two years that there is more to Courtney Weber than just a career. Ive had to accept that my career may go away, especially in my sic work environment. I have had my confidential personal life spread around by own boss in an inappropriate and demeaning fashion. I have been belittled and embarrassed. I am not my job. Boundary setting has been difficult for me as I am historically a hard worker and overachiever. However, despite all of these negatives, I still like to go to work in the morning. I work with some amazing teachers who brighten my day. I have been told I am often the only special education administrator they ever see and my positive, supportive, and encouraging personality is helpful for them and appreciated. I vow to manage my future department in a completely different approach.

How is culture and its interpretation relevant to the study and management of organizations? In class we read the article from Harvard Business Review titled Cultural Change That Sticks where numerous corporations were reviewed for their business practices. Studying how other organizations have improved or completely altered their culture is imperative to make growth and move forward in an innovative manner. After four

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE different CEOs at AETNA within five years, Dr. Rowe had his work cut out for him. The employees had zero faith he would be the vehicle of change they needed. Instead, Dr. Rowe took time to visit offices, worked to understand their perspectives, and involved

them in planning. Employees at all levels were interviewed and their input highly valued. The AETNA found that it ostracized its patients and doctors- the two most important facets to medicine. Just as in education the two most important people are teachers and students. The article was extremely insightful in offering ways to take what works from the culture and use it guide the shift in culture. The article noted it takes years to alter behaviors, attitudes, thinking, and feelings. The article also cited the importance in only picking 2-3 targeted areas to change in culture at a time. If a leader attempts to change everything, they will fail. Employees will rebel and adopt the attitude of waiting it out until the leader quits or is terminated.

How do leaders create and re-shape organizational cultures? Leaders undoubtedly are the compass behind cultural paradigm shifts. They either perpetuate it or change it. It takes a skilled visionary to take risk in a school leadership position. Leaders must include surveys, interviews, and conversations to guide the organization into success. According to Johnson & Agenda (2012), the most important agent for change is trust. Employees must trust their leaders to buy-in to the plans of change. Its imperative the leader has a vision and communicates this to his/her staff. The staff is the powerful current to move towards change. If trust isnt developed, staff becomes a hindrance to change. Trust has to be evident between the staff and the leader. Reshaping school and district culture takes a strong person who isnt afraid of

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE fear and resistance from staff and parents. School culture is something that is elusive; it is hard to define as its nearly impossible to see. It is the tone set by a group of employees and their leader. Even the most basic cultural work environment aspects such as how the staff dresses, planning, parental/community involvement, reacting to conflict, classroom/office decorations, can be a challenge to change. For leaders to reshape this cultural paradigm within a business, or school environment, the leader needs a three-year plan. Change agents dont historically happen over night. Its a process, just as great teachers take a few years to mold. Reculturing isnt just about reshaping an environment. The re-culturing must match the tone of the employees and the leaders temperament. How do employees negotiate and adapt to them? Employees negotiate and adapt to changes slowly. In my experience in education, the outliers are most vocal and often the union organizing bullies (though thats a sweeping

generalization). They were represented in our class as only 17% of the population but in some settings it can appear to be much higher. Employees attitudes and temperaments have very little to do with work environment and more with personal choice and lifestyle. What are examples of codified ideologies in schools? Ideology is the belief system one has in relation to expectations and goals according to Wikipedia.com. Having a strong belief system that all children can learn or that students are the top priority is quintessential in schools. Teachers can become easily burned out and let the negativity over take their attitude. From politics, lack of money, parent complaints, and/or administration can take its toll on teachers with genuine interests in educating students. My dissertation topic deals with inability for teachers to

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deliver instruction as misbehavior and classroom management challenges abound. New teachers become overwhelmed with the lack of instructional delivery and dealing with misbehavior that is required. I believe our teacher preparation programs do a subpar job of providing honest college courses where honest dialogue takes place. Instead we have professors with no classroom or school experience who give direction. Students can be naughty in every school, every setting, in every socioeconomic status areas. If a teacher does not walk into the classroom with confidence and the ability to manage students, their classroom is doomed. There are many fabulous teachers who are skilled in their expertise areas, but cant handle misbehavior. Public school is littered with students who make bad choices, but desperately just need positive adult role models. This is where the teachers ideology should come into place about making a difference! All children can be taught and deserve the best education possible.

How do actors engage in presentation rituals that generate an organizational culture? Though I may be taking this question literally, presentation rituals are best by the Apple master Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs guaranteed everyone was a connected member of the team- from leaders to custodians. Whenever Apple announced new retail products, his team put together exciting presentations for consumers. They were funny, engaging, heart felt, and genuine. People were hooked and always looking forward to another. Steve Jobs never took credit for the Apple inventions and instead passed it along to his team of experts. However, when things dont work he will take direct responsibility. Organizational culture, or the collective behavior of the organization, can be easily identified if observing the professional development offerings. Professional development

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE is using the employees as resources and investments. By providing them relevant information and trainings, the organization is emphasizing just how important staff is.

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Staff is the ultimate resource and must be provided all the tools to do an exceptional job. How do individuals relate to an organizations culture? Employees relate to their organizational by staying or leaving. If the culture doesnt match a persons ideology, the person finds a new job, or worse- flies under the radar doing a mediocre job. Mediocrity has no place in education. Our children deserve the best education possible. In my work environment, the culture doesnt correspond with my ideology. I believe firmly in teamwork, accolades for the hard working, making mistakes, ownership of those mistakes, and communicating with all stakeholders. I disagree with micromanaging employees, and instead giving them power to make choices and decisions. I knew I had to leave my department when last year I nominated my secretary for Employee of the Year for out district. My secretary is the hardest working classified staff Ive ever met. She is kind, flexible, helps anyone, never is in a bad mood, goes over and beyond her job duties, works as a team player, and an overall amazing person to know. I wrote a wonderful letter about her to the committee for the award, and she won! She deserved it so much and I couldnt have been more pleased! I hung congratulations signs on her desk, got her balloons and flowers, and a cake. My boss told me there would be no celebration for the award as the other ladies in the office would become jealous. We have some very catty, envious, rumor spreaders who do a horrible job. They purposefully work slowly so my secretary has to pick up their slack. My boss fully supports this sick agenda. I was the only one in the office who congratulated my

Running head: PSUSD CULTURE secretary on her award that was so well deserved. My boss even told me to take the

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cake home. It was at this time when I knew it was time to leave. I have been looking for jobs but the economy is unstable- especially outside the realm of special education. Because special education is mostly federally funded, my job is secure. My current work environment has allowed me to grow and learn, mostly in how I will never run an office.

Reflect on schools that appear to have a real mission, ideology, and set of ritual practices. How does the organizational culture metaphor speak to school reform effort and improving student achievement?

In summarization, this class abounded with cultural paradigm strategies that will impact the leader I am today, and will be for my educational career. Culture is so important to foster. Change agents is where I learned the most useful information from your class lectures, reading books, journal articles, and magazines. I refrained from talking negatively about my department culture as I firmly believe that its a small community, the Inland Empire. People talk and reputations are ruined from such. I have taken so much of the knowledge you have given and made mental notes in my brain Rolodex ideas to promote a support, encouraging, and effective school culture. My ideology has been defined and I am in education to make a difference. Differences happen with empowering students and teachers. I look forward to the day when I can impact a greater educational cause utilizing my knowledge from this class. I have much gratitude Dr. Moore-Stewart for your amazing class this quarter.

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Resources Assad, A. (2012). The effects of punishment on employee behavior. Chron Magazine. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-punishmentemployee-behavior-14302.html on November 30, 2012. Banks, S. (Ed.)., Cheney, G. , & Lair, D. (2008). Elevating dissent and transcending fear-based culture at war and at work. Dissent and Failure of Leadership, 182-207. Board, S. (2012). Creating a culture of high expectations, student motivation and instructional support in schools and classrooms. high schools that work. Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). Johnson, J. , & Agenda, P. (2011). What's trust got to do with it? a communications and engagement guide for school leaders tackling the problem of persistently failing schools. Public Agenda. Katzenbach, J.R., Steffen, I., & Kronley, C. (2012). Cultural change that sticks. Harvard Business Review: July-August 2012. Palm Springs Unified School District website: psusd.us Staver, M. (2012). Blame-based leadership. Leadership Excellence, 29(9), 14-15.