Title: 
Headings:  SCHOOLS AS OPEN SYSTEMS
SCHOOLS
 
AS
 
OPEN
 
SYSTEMS
 

Fred
 
C.
 
Lunenburg
 

ABSTRACT
 

Transformation
Inputs
 
 
 
Process
Outputs

               
Environment
 

Inputs
 

Transformation
 
Process
 

Outputs
 

Feedback
 

Environment
 

Conclusion
 

References
 


Content: The
  
social,
  
political,
  
and
  
economic
  
contexts
  
in
  
which
  
school
 
administrators
 
work
 
are
 
marked
 
by
 
pressures
 
at
 
the
 
local,
 
state,
 
and
 
federal
 
levels. Thus,
 
school
 
administrators
 
today
 
find
 
it
 
necessary
 
to
 
manage
 
and
 
develop
 
―internal‖
 
operations
 
while
  
concurrently
  
monitoring
  
the
  
environment
  
and
  
anticipating
  
and
  
responding
  
to
 
―external‖
 
demands. Since
  
the
  
enactment
  
of
  
the
  
No
  
Child
  
Left
  
Behind
  
(NCLB)
  
Act
  
of
  
2001(Public
 
Law
  
107-110),
  
education
  
has
  
been
  
near
  
the
  
top
  
of
  
the
  
national
  
political
  
agenda. The
 
federal
 
law
 
nationalized
 
the
 
discussion
 
concerning
 
the
 
well-being
 
of
 
public
 
schooling
 
in
 
America. At
 
the
 
time
 
the
 
report
 
was
  
released
 
and
 
subsequently,
 
there
 
has
  
been
 
concern
 
with
 
an
 
achievement
 
gap
 
in
 
America
 
(Darling-Hammond,
 
2010; DuFour,
 
DuFour,
 
Eaker,
 
&
 
Karhanek,
 
2010; Howard,
 
2011; Paige,
 
2011)
 
and
 
our
 
academic
 
competitiveness
 
with
 
other
 
nations,
 
particularly
 
in
 
mathematics
 
and
 
science
 
(U.S.
 
Government
 
Printing
 
Office,
 
2008). These
  
achievement
  
gaps
  
and
  
academic
 
comparisons
  
have
  
led
  
many
  
people
  
to
 
conclude
 
that
 
the
 
U.S.
 
public
 
school
 
system
 
was
 
underperforming. With
 
recognition
 
of
 
an
 
achievement
 
gap
 
and
 
the
 
rise
 
of
 
international
 
educational
 
comparisons,
  
states
  
began
  
to
  
focus
  
their
  
policy
  
on
  
standards,
  
accountability,
  
and
  
the
 
improvement
  
of
  
student
  
academic
  
achievement
  
(Bulach,
  
Lunenburg,
  
&
  
Potter,
  
2008;