| The expectation for "no failure" evident in our nations recent reform means American policy makers are effectively moving the design, and leadership of public schools towards those of High Reliability Organizations (HRO's). HRO's, described by Perrow's work (1984) and work by Weick et al. (1999) involve High Reliability (HR) theory and the two widely accepted approaches to achieving (HR), prevention and resiliency..;Other reform includes leadership models for both training and evaluation of a new generation of instructional leadership. The 2008 Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards were developed by The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), adopted by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA), and presented as the Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC 2008, as one such model.;Through comprehensive review of the literature surrounding the 'work of principals', an understanding of (HR), (HRO's), the approaches to reliability of prevention and resiliency, and the two concepts of failure and error that reinforce a cornerstone of (HR), "learning from mistakes," a framework was established that made possible the following:;This qualitative study, pulled from the sensemaking of ten Washington State high school principals, is conducted responding to state and federal policies mandating that all students meet state standards in reading and math in addition to graduating college or work force ready. Given the charge to reduce and even eliminate student failure, current accountability policies advance goals and purposes that reflect those found in management science literature as high reliability organizations (HROs) (Stringfield & Datnow 2002). Educators are being required to operate schools as error free organizations. NCLB very effectively holds a school accountable for the failure of any one student to advance at the rate and to the level required (Skrla & Scheurich, 2001). Conflicting and demanding responsibilities for principals have not gone unnoticed and may contribute to the dwindling pool of applicants---particularly at the high school level (Marks & Nance, 2007). The purpose was to describe, analyze, and interpret the promises and pitfalls of high reliability organizing in high schools as perceived by those charged with leading and achieving expected outcomes in these organizations. |
