Little School System That Could, The

Examines, from four organizational perspectives, Virginia's Manassas Park City School's ten-year turnaround.The Little School System That Could is a story about transformation. In 1995, equipped with not much more than a vision of the quality education that urban students deserved, Tom DeBolt, the new superintendent of the Manassas Park School System, set into motion a series of reforms that transformed the district. By 2005 every school was accredited, passing rates on state tests had doubled, and the school system was attracting national attention. Daniel L. Duke examines the district's ten-year turnaround, from four organizational perspectives and addresses the critical role of professional and political leadership in overcoming the challenges of low morale, scarce resources, changing demographics, and dysfunctional school-community relations.Daniel L. Duke is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Virginia. He is the author of many books, including Education Empire: The Evolution of an Excellent Suburban School System and coeditor (with Margaret Grogan, Pamela D. Tucker, and Walter F. Heinecke) of Educational Leadership in an Age of Accountability: The Virginia Experience, both also published by SUNY Press.