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PUBLIC EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY


Insiders and outsiders were used to affect cultural change. Insiders (individuals that existed in the system prior to the takeover) were employees of the central office, many of whom maintained their positions prior to and during the takeover. In addition to local staff, other individuals were brought in to assist with the takeover. Outsiders (individuals that did not exist in the system prior to the takeover) provided a balance for the personnel. According to interviews, this was not necessarily a part of the plan but happened as a benefit of matching the right people to the right positions, a key focus of the State Superintendent.


Almost all of the interviewed subjects agreed that the county sustained success because the citizens of Logan County, as well as the educational community, wanted the schools to be successful. Therefore, there was a desire to sustain the achieved results as provided in the following administrative testimony:


The state gave back the power, gave back control to the local board. It was a thing of pride. They had accomplished something. We had done this; we had survived. We had come out it better and stronger. We can do this. There was always that we don’t want the state back in there so we will do it right-that type of thing. (Interview, 2004)


When interviewed and asked how culture influenced change, the State-Appointed Superintendent offered the following evidentiary support:


Five years after, the one thing I heard over and over was that I didn’t come in and tell them how bad they were. I told them they were good and used a positive approach. Couldn’t do anything about what had happened but could correct things. I was their cheerleader. I wanted them to succeed. (Interview, 2004)


Quinn (1996) identified two different types of cultural change: procedural and structural. In the takeover of Logan County, the procedural aspect of change was how the school system did business: “I think it was that schools communities were treated equitability and school (a) was treated different than school (b). It was no longer about political differences – it was about fairness. It was not about who was who” (Interview, 2004). There was a mechanism in place to comply with state code properly. “I think the biggest impact was convincing the community, the teachers, and the administrators that they could accomplish the goals that the State Department had set out for them to accomplish for them to take back over the power for their school system” (Interview, 2004). The structural change was the shift in power under which the local board was unable to make decisions. A decentralization of power also occurred within the administrative ranks as leaders began to emerge, and the emphasis shifted to doing things properly. From this shift, there emerged pride and a sense


86 Virginia Educational Leadership Vol. 8 No. 1 Spring 2011


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