William G. Ouchi, Simon and Schuster
September 2003
UCLA management professor William G. Ouchi has written an important book. Though dressed up as a "how to do it" handbook, it's the result of a careful study of six big-city school districts (five U.S., one Canadian) to determine which ones work best and why. After extensive analysis, he has distilled the essential elements of district-level success into "seven keys." To wit: Every principal is an entrepreneur. Every school controls its own budget. Everyone is accountable for student performance and for budgets. Everyone delegates authority to those below. There is a burning focus on student achievement. Every school is a community of learners. And families have real choices among a variety of unique schools. The rest of the book explains the seven keys in depth, suggests how he reached these conclusions, and what "you" can do with them to "improve your school." A most insightful and important piece of work that holds out real hope for urban school reform at the system level. But, of course, the changes implied by Ouchi's seven keys would, for many communities, be wrenching and politically difficult. The ISBN is 0743246306, the publisher is Simon & Schuster and you can get more information at http://www.simonsays.com/book/default_book.cfm?isbn=0743246306&areaid=33.
