I. THE ROLE OF THE MODEL SCHOOL DIVISION

The Model School Division's requests for funds should be viewed in the perspective of its fundamental purpose and its relationships within the organization of the District public schools. What is the role of the Model School Division? 1. The Model School Division was created to provide the District public schools with the research and development capacity to create programs capable of breaking the "poverty cycle"

All of the evidence derived from the social scientists, from the experience of astute administrators of schools, and from the experience of those administrators of private and public enterprises concerned with employment, welfare, public safety, health, and urban planning clearly indicates a number of fundamental facts. These facts may be summarized as follows:

Poverty and all its destructive byproducts are a result of serious "underinvestment" in our less-fortunate countryman.

It is evident that among the large number of public and private organizations concerned with poverty, the Nation's public school systems have an access to those suffering from poverty matched by no other institution. Thus a major portion of our investment in people should be through the schools. There is a large backlog of experimental evidence from the social sciences awaiting development into effective operating school programs; also, there is much research now underway and there will be more research in the near future.

Very little effort has been made to combine the promising results of experimental projects with successful school programs presently in operation to create a "model," prototype school program.

Experiment too often has been fragmented; research findings usually unimplemented.

The Nation's public schools usually have relatively limited resources. This is particularly true of the major urban school systems. Thus funds for research and development are also very limited. Schools usually receive little support for budget requests related to research and planning. The role of the Model School Division is to help the public schools to become an instrument for investment in people which can be decisive in breaking the "poverty cycle." It intends to do this by providing the District public schools with a research and development capacity which, though much desired, presently is almost nonexistent.

2. The Model School Division's role within the District school system should be characterized by close internal cooperation coupled with substantial operating autonomy

The Model School Division must be an integral part of the District public schools. The Board of Education is charged by law with responsibility for the education of the approximately 17,000 young people served by the Model School Division, as it is for all the children of the District of Columbia. The Board cannot and should not divest itself of this responsibility.

Though the legal reasons are important, there are more compelling operational reasons for establishing the Model School Division as an integral part of the District public schools. The Cardozo area, served by the Model School Division is but one of several large areas characterized by poverty. It is important that the results of the successful experimental efforts of the Model School Division be adopted as rapidly as possible by the very large number of schools outside the model school area. Indeed, if such dissemination of programs does not occur, the project can never claim more than partial success. Close systemwide cooperation and coordination of efforts should be planned as part of the Model School Division programs.

It is also important that the Model School Division be endowed with autonomy to act within the schools encompassed in the Cardozo area. The Model School Division must be able to introduce experimental school organizational plans, to create new teaching materials and techniques, to redeploy staff for teaching, to regroup students for instruction, and to develop new constellations of supporting services which may create basic conditions under which deprived young people can learn more effectively. It may appear paradoxical to expect to achieve at once, close cooperation and broad and dramatic experimentation. However, these concepts are compatible if the experimental programs are carefully devel

oped on sound principles, if the new programs are properly supported, supervised, and evaluated, and if the entire school staff have an opportunity to know why new programs are introduced and what results are being obtained. In short, change will be accepted to solve a common problem. The purpose of this program is not experiment for change sake, experiment to generate prestige, nor experiment to develop interesting facts; it is experiment designed to help disadvantaged young people. Perhaps it is best characterized as applied educational and social research.

3. The Model School Division has both service and experimental responsibilities A question is raised, properly, concerning whether the Model School Division is to conduct primarily experimental or service programs. The answer is that both are responsibilities of this Division. Consider that the education and supporting services of 17,000 children must be provided by this Division. The District schools will provide the Division with maximum possible support to provide a strong base upon which to experiment. The introduction of experimental programs and the development of research, planning, and evaluation capacity will come largely from the United Planning Organization. This aspect of the Division's work is experimental. Thus, this model program is planned as a major cooperative effort between the District public schools and the United Planning Organization. This cooperation would build greater service as well as important innovation.

II. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE MODEL SCHOOL DIVISION

The Model School Division must be organized to achieve its service, experimental, and "catalytic" objectives. It is also most important that the organizational structure is developed to facilitate the maintenance of desired relationships and to achieve objetcives efficiently as well as effectively.

1. The Model School Division's organization has been developing during the last year and should be expected to adjust further as the program is expanded The Model School Division initiated its first programs in the fall of 1964. The first contract providing funds to support its initial programs was signed in February 1965. Thus, like other new organizations in both public and private enterprise, the Model School Division's organization was and is in a state of development.

The Model School Division's organization is being developed in roughly three stages. The first stage was to establish a basic structure and to initiate a number of projects. Since the Model School Division was beginning in the middle of the year and was confronted with major problems of program development and organization, no direct line authority over schools in the Cardozo area was given the Division at that time. The second stage will provide the Division with this direct line authority and also will initiate stronger research and development capacity. The last stage should create an appropriate total school structure which will facilitate close cooperation and participation by the entire school system in the implementation of programs developed in the Model School Division. It appears likely that this third stage of development will be implemented soon. Indeed, the plan of organization, shown later in this budget, contains the initial stages leading to a more general reorganization of the District public schools.

2. The Model School Division's plan of organization should be developed on sound principles and should reflect the Division's major objectives

Before considering the proposed organization in detail, certain specific organizational objectives should be identified. These objectives will provide a basis for evaluation of the proposed Model School plan of organization. The Division's plan of organization should achieve the following objectives:

Recognize all the necessary functions.

Group all functions appropriately.

Establish manageable spans of control for all supervisory personnel.
Eliminate unproductive "linkage" in the chain of control.

Define assignments clearly and staff at a level which allows effective operation with maximum economy.

Insure the Division autonomy adequate to achieve the purposes of an experimental school division.

Establish relationships to facilitate introduction of new programs to other parts in the school system.

3. The proposed plan of organizaton is expected to meet the Division's organizational objectives

The plan of organization, to be financed by these budget requests, is shown below. This plan is expected to meet the Model School Division's organizational objectives. This plan provides the Model School Division with a number of operational opportunities.

(1) The Model School Division will be the District schools' first "area" school division. The major change in the organization of the Model School Division is the establishing of the District public schools' first "area" or "community" school division. Under this plan of organization, the school principals in the Cardozo area will report to the Assistant Superintendent in charge of the Model School Division. All aspects of school administration within this area with the single exception of vocational education, will be the responsibility of the Model School Division. This change will provide the Model School with a measure of autonomy over all three levels of education within the area. There will be no division of responsibility; there will be no separation of responsibility from authority. An assistant for administration and an assistant to coordinate supporting services are provided for administration of the Division.1

(2) The proposed plan of organization provides specifically for research and development.—The experimental responsibilities of the Model School Division require that new programs be developed soundly and evaluated continuously. The plan of organization provides full-time staff and funds for advisory and consulting services for research and development.

(3) The plan of organization recognizes the special staffing requirements necessary to implement new programs.-Experimental programs are inherently disruptive because they require change. Even the best planned programs will encounter unforeseen problems. These facts are recognized in the proposed plan of organization by providing a Director of Experimental Programs and a staff of supervising directors, subject matter assistant directors, and funds for advisory and consulting services.

(4) The Model School Division will be served by a special citizens advisory committee.-The Model School Division is a joint experimental effort supported jointly by the United Planning Organization and the District public schools. To provide for special citizen participation in the development of programs, a special advisory committee has been appointed which is comprised of Board of Education members and members appointed by the schools and UPO. The proposed plan of organization provides for an executive assistant to assist this committee in its deliberations.

(5) The plan of organization establishes the Model School Division as an integral part of the District public schools and provides for special support and cooperation in research and development efforts.-The Model School Division, while achieving substantial autonomy, is very much a part of the District public schools. It should be observed that the Superintendent and the Board of Education are in authority over the Model School Division, in the same manner as they are over all other operations of the schools. The rules and regulations of the Board of Education apply to the Model School Division. The policies and general practices regarding personnel, budget, finance, or purchasing will apply to the Model School Division. Staff to absorb the additional workload created by the Model School Division in various departments is provided for in this budget.

(6) The plan of organization provides for joint financial support by UPO and the District schools of the research and development program.-Research and development are relatively unfamiliar terms to most of the Nation's school systems. Indeed, funds for research in the District schools are totally inadequate. However, this is a capacity which the District public schools plan to develop with the use of their new Federal sources of revenue. Since the success of the Model School Division is dependent in large measure on its research and development capacity, and also, on its ability to have systemwide impact on the practice of education, it is desirable that the District schools merge their research

1 Vocational schools serve citywide enrollments. Also, vocational education is already under major study by consultants and will be undergoing change. However, the Model School Division will cooperate with the Vocational Department in specific projects.

and development resources with those requested in this budget. This action is consistent with and representative of the level of support for this new venture which is desired by the Board of Education and the school administration. It is also a measure of the importance with which this effort is viewed. The fortunes of the Model School Division may profoundly influence the entire public school system in the District of Columbia.

III. SPECIFIC FISCAL YEAR 1966 BUDGET REQUESTS

The purposes, relationships, and the basic organization to accomplish these purposes will require funding in the amount of $1,281,661 in fiscal year 1966. The specific requests fall into the following basic categories:

1. General administration.-These funds support the personnel and related costs necessary to control and direct the programs of the Model School Division. Included in this category is the funding by positions assigned to service departments to compensate for additional workloads created by the Model School Division. Regular operating requests are for 13 administrative positions, 20 clerical positions, space rental, supplies, and travel. A nonrecurring request for equipment is also included.

The estimated cost of general administration is shown in detail in the following table:

2. Research and development.-An appropriation for $203,902 is requested for research and development related to the Model School Division. It should be observed that this request will be supplemented substantially by District school funds in order to create, for the first time, a capacity for research, planning, and evaluation of programs.