Page 34 - Agency Project

Conclusion

For those of you who are followers of forensic TV shows such as CSI and Bones,
you will know that carrying out a line of inquiry involves lab work, talking to
people, Internet research, but that, for the most part, the mystery is solved
when there is a moment of creative thinking and a general drawing-upon of
shared experience [there is also a lot of posturing: a car chase, a love interest,
yelling at people, but we can ignore that]. In schools, following a line of inquiry
is not nearly as interesting. A brief summary for schools would be:

1. There is a problem identified by someone (perhaps a complaint
by parents, a set of poor test results, upset teachers, a memo from
the central office, or so forth).

2. School leaders get together and talk about it; their sense of urgency
depends on the situation.

3. They then talk with others, check facts, go on the Internet, and make
some phone calls.

4. After that they meet again and brainstorm a solution to the problem.
They base their discussion on experience and insight and on what
information and evidence they have obtained, as well as on some
wonderful moments of high-end creativity.

5. Finally the school leaders take the idea (the solution) and run it past
other teachers (often they take it to a staff meeting) to refine it and
to get commitments to a plan of action. Then they make it happen
(set a policy, change a procedure, or so forth).

6. Making it happen usually means someone has to do something
differently; some change is adopted and put into practice.

7. After some time, they revisit the change and see what impact it has
had and collect evidence of what has transpired.

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