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  • Ask the Administrator: Jobs in Education Reform

    By Dean Dad February 1, 2010 10:34 pm

    A dispirited correspondent writes:

    I'm wondering if you have any words of advice for those of us who are interested in paying jobs in the field of educational reform. I need to earn a living, but I'd like to further the cause if I could. I have 20 years experience in the college classroom, and am currently full time and tenured at a community college, but I am more than ready to leave the classroom. It's painful to me to have to constantly "game" statistics on so-called student learning outcomes while dumbing down the curriculum ever more to improve our "retention" and "completion" rates. We are getting ready for our re-accreditation, so we are in "full assessment mode"; I find it harder and harder to cooperate with the fundamental dishonesty of the whole process. I'd like to leave and work for real reform and excellence in education. My Ph.D. is in one of the humanities, not ed leadership, and I don't have a math/statistics background, so perhaps I'm not the ideal candidate. Then again, who is?

    My knowledge of this is pretty limited, so I'll ask my wise and worldly readers to chime in and fill out the picture.

    I'll start with the obvious: if your local administration is pushing you to dumb down the curriculum in the name of retention, then your local administrators are idiots. The flaws in their strategy are several and basic. If you water down the degree, you'll lose transferability over time. If you water down the classes, it will become harder to maintain order in the classroom, since students will see no reason to take sanctions seriously. If you tell creative workers that their daily work should be entirely in the service of pleasing the customer, you'll actually get more displeased customers, because the quality of the work will suffer when their morale collapses.

    Assessment is another matter, but I'll just say that if it's entirely dead weight, they aren't doing it right.

    That said, I'll concede that many of my administrative colleagues seem to miss the big picture. (That's one of the reasons I've stayed in administration so long. I've seen the damage lousy admins can do, and I want to prevent it.) It sounds like you want to address the big picture. Getting paid for it is the tricky part.

    Obviously, one way to do that is to go into administration yourself. That will take time and patience, though, since the first rung of the ladder involves far more trivia than thought.

    Another way is to look at grant-funded programs. Philanthropic agencies usually have some sort of change or reform agenda; the trick is finding an agency with an agenda you find congenial, and that needs the skills you bring. One fairly common model is a grant that funds a partnership between a social service agency and a community college, usually teaching non-credit courses for targeted populations in specific niche occupations. Introducing yourself to the continuing-ed side of your college and expressing interest in working with them can open up opportunities in ways that are hard to anticipate.

    Nonprofits and various ngo's often do the kind of work that seems to speak to you, though you'd have to figure out what your unique contribution would be. If it won't be on the financial or technical side, it could be on the fundraising or publicity side. I wouldn't expect to find a full-time, decent-paying job right out of the gate, but if you're willing to take baby steps, you might be able to find a niche.

    Of course, there's always writing. That's my personal fave.

    I'm reasonably sure that some of my wise and worldly readers have something to offer on this one, so I'll put out an open call. Does anyone know another way to make a living while fighting the good fight?

    Good luck!

    Have a question? Ask the Administrator at deandad (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Comments on Ask the Administrator: Jobs in Education Reform

  • Educational reformer seeks job...
  • Posted by Andy on February 2, 2010 at 9:45am EST

  • It always interests me that many of your writers who are looking for jobs are looking to escape teaching. What they SHOULD be looking for are jobs that they want to go into, are passionate about, and qualified for. It always comes across loud and clear in interviews who these folks are and frankly, I have never hired one yet. The condescending attitude, the feeling that they know it all, etc., these are red flags for us when for hiring non-teaching positions.

    The writer seems to think that because he/she has worked long at a teaching job, he/she is qualified to do all else in academia. While teaching does indeed involve prepare a person in some ways, there are whole skill sets that are different in administration, grant-writing, or other jobs. Your writer should develop those skills and experiences first, so they have some additional background and experience germane to a leadership job.

    Nowhere in your writer's letter did it sound like he/she had any clear ideas for "reform". If they are just going to jump on the current political bandwagon, then he/she will be out of job in 3 or 7 years because reform has a way of dying with the politcal tides. It seemed more like he/she just wanted to escape their current position. I would probably not hire this person for a non-teaching position, and based on the limited info in the letter, I would think twice about hiring them for a teaching position. There is an attitude conveyed that sounds like trouble to me, which almost always are evident in interviews.

    Just to note, I am an academic administrator, who started out as a faculty member, developed more skills sets and leadership experience, eventually moved up, earner additional degrees, etc. until I had enough background and experience to be an administrator. I still teach part-time at another college. I have hired literally hundreds of people over the last ten years, and hopefully have gotten very good at sensing some of the underlying attitudes that may help or hinder a person in their job.

  • Ask Someone
  • Posted by Phronesis on February 2, 2010 at 10:45am EST

  • It would be a good idea to speak to someone who is already in the higher education reform business. I would suggest Glen S. McGhee at the Florida Higher Education Accountability Project, George Leef at the Pope Center, Anne Neal of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and Peter Wood at the National Association of Scholars.

  • Posted by Rachel on February 2, 2010 at 12:00pm EST

  • Andy sounds like an administrator with too much power -- perhaps he should check his attitude. No Child Left Behind WILL come to postsecondary and higher education and that day will be a good one. You're welcome.

  • Mission, connections, sacrifice
  • Posted by Susan Weston on February 2, 2010 at 4:15pm EST

  • From 20 years in the non-profit education reform zone, I can only imagine one path into the work, in three steps. First, there has to be something in particular you passionately want to help happen. Second, you have to build deep connections with the other people who want that to happen, because the results come from team efforts and (of course) because networks how career moves get made. Third, you have to want the mission enough to do without a bunch of things. Especially, it has to seem worthwhile to give up a bunch of security and a bunch of benefits--and that sense of purpose comes from believing in the work you want to get done.

  • Andy -- dead wrong
  • Posted by Nene on February 2, 2010 at 6:15pm EST

  • Andy sounds full of his superhuman ability to sense a "bad hire".

    My own spidey-sense, OTOH, tells me that this writer would be a great fit in a progressive administration. She's seen the damage that narcissistic, self-involved admins like Andy can wreak, and wants to help find a better way.

  • Posted by dean guy on February 2, 2010 at 7:15pm EST

  • I've worked in all kinds of institutional types and have to say that the CCs do tend to be the most open to "reform." Realistically, if you are frustrated by your CC, it may be time to move into another professional realm. Off the top of my head, I can think of three possible options for you: 1) start teaching somewhere really progressive that lives its values via its pedagogy (Evergreen State, Hampshire, New College of Florida, etc.,) 2) work for a non-profit dedicated to educational reform (like the Gates Foundation,) or 3) explore the federally-funded Regional Educational Laboratories and see if you can land a job doing teacher training or curriculum design work.

    Every job has its advantages and disavantages but everyone deserves to find a job that makes them happy. You will eventually find what you seek. Good luck!

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