Afterschool program Essay

The combined efforts of the Washington, DC School system and the Woodson Foundation in the development of an Afterschool program to help increase and improve student outcomes. They have identified amply room for improvement. Three of the primary problems in the Washington, DC School systems are truancy, low student performance, and crime. They have also identified new staff (teachers) are quickly burnet out due to their initial enthusiasm in to want to help the students. This has caused a high turnover rate in new teachers, causing the school system to lose some of the best and brightest teachers to other school system in the area. The first stage in building a coalition is to select a representative from each of the organizations which will be involved in the program. This will give equal representation across the team. It has been identified that an Executive Development team should be established. This team will span across a multifunctional area to establish an operating plan for improving school performance. Participation from the Woodson Foundation and Washington, DC School system is the key element of a successful Executive Development team. However, representation from the National Coalition for Parental Involvement in education (NCPIE) should be considered, because they represent for the parent on the behalf of the PTA. The Coalition is in the forming stage of group development. A representative from each of the organizations will need to be assigned to the group. Then the group will need to figure out the groups purpose, structure, and the leadership of the group. In order for the Woodson Foundation to create this cohesive group, the stages of group development will need to be followed. The next step in the group development is storming. The representatives of the different organizations accept that the Executive Development team is needed, however each organization has their own principles they feel is important to the development. The leader is also established in this stage and there is a clear hierarchy of leadership. The third phase is Norming: In this stage, the Executive Development team has a solid group structure and a set of common expectations. Roles are established within this cohesive group.  The fourth stage is Performing: The structure of the Executive Development team is functional and all members accept it. The team is performing the tasks at hand and successfully completing them. The fifth stage is Adjourning. Even though the team is adjourning, they will collect the detailed analysis and put together a presentation of the Operational plan for improving the student’s performance in the After School program. Their findings will give clear direction of how to get the ASP going. One of the primary problems the Woodson Foundation is facing is what organization will lead the Executive Development team. In order for the leaders to lead this primary team, strong leadership and management is needed for top effectiveness. Today’s leaders should challenge themselves to identify status quo, create visions for the future, and inspire organizational members to want to achieve organizational goals and visions. The representatives from each organization of the Executive Development team, has their own vision as to why their organization should take the lead in building the team. The secondary problem the Woodson Foundation is to identify goals and objectives. The Woodson Foundation primary objective is outsider involvement to get a bigger and clearer picture of the program. NCPIE primary objective is having parent imput. They feel the Woodson Foundation can come in and do all they want, however if the parents do not participate the program will not work. Washington, DC School system primary objective is to let the professionals get the job done. The administrators feel they have the background, education, and expertise to spear head the program. These various backgrounds will enable the Executive Development team members, to have an understanding of the needs of the children participating in the ASP. One solution to the problem is building trust between coalition members and parents. The leadership will need to create an environment of trust that is conducive to all. Trust facilitates information sharing, encourages taking risks. However, trust builds a more effect team and enhances productivity (Robbins, pg 315). My second solution would be to identify and define clear responsibilities within the group. Each individual must be responsible and successfully complete research, presentations, and analysis for their areas of focus. This can clearly be accomplished by soliciting input from other team members (Robbins, pg 316). Each member of the group should have some type of training in managing diversity, conflict resolution, team building, and team cohesiveness. All members should have a clear understanding of their roles within the group and promote a climate of trust. Having a clear understanding of the leadership and its structure would better serve the Executive Development team’s primary function. Work Cited Robbins, Judge, Stephen P., Timothy A. Organizational Behavior. 15th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012. VitalBook file. Bookshelf.