Just like any other organization, a school system would not be able to function properly without an efficient administrator and an effective administration process. In the case of school systems, the administrator would be the superintendent of the school. As the administrator, the superintendent serves as both the leader and the manager of the school.
In order to be a successful and efficient administrator, the superintendent should focus on four areas– planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. In the case of planning, the administrator should be able to pinpoint appropriate goals for the whole school system.
The goal usually carries prospects for progress, equality, and harmony. As part of the planning process, the administrator should also be able to identify the best courses of action in fulfilling the chosen goals. Such goals should be evaluated at a regular basis so as to assess if they are ion line with the demands of time.
After planning the goals and the ways towards its achievement, the administrator should be able to put those plans into action.
Organizing is as important as the plan itself. As such, the new administrator should be able to formulate task and authority relations. He should be able to establish an organizational set-up that will allow the school system to efficiently and quickly make the vision, a reality, if he/she may deem the present set-up is inappropriate. As the leader of the school, the new administrator should also be able to influence people- from the students to the teachers, and even the other sectors involved in establishing an effective educational system such as the community, the parents, governmental agencies, and many more.
He or she should be able to motivate and unite them, and provide them with a common goal for the educational welfare of the students and for the encouragement of harmony and efficiency of learning and teaching processes. He or she should be able to encourage everyone to work towards a common goal, which is usually the mission and vision of the school.
Lastly, after ensuring the plans, the set-up and the people are all set for action; the administrator should be able to control the organization. Control should not be equated with stringent and numerous laws and regulations matched with various sanctions. Instead, it should be associated with the establishment of precise evaluation processes that will allow the administrator to measure and monitor the organization’s development at regular basis overtime, in accordance with the established goals.
References:
Brennen, Annick M. (n.d.) The Administration of Elementary Schools. Retrieved January 29, 2008 from http://www.soencouragement.org/admin-of-elementary-schools.htm
The Management Process Today (n.d.) Retrieved January 29, 2008 from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073011223/317076/samplechapter.pdf