Leading Schools and Districts in Times of Crisis

Abstract

The COVID-19 school closures highlighted the importance of crisis management for school and district leaders. Crisis management, however, has not received sufficient attention from school leadership preparation programs or education leadership researchers. This article synthesizes research spanning schools and other organizations, including those in the private sector, to describe a framework for understanding crises and crisis management in schools and districts and the key competences this literature suggests for successful navigation of crisis situations. We use this framework to discuss leaders’ responses to the COVID-19 school closures in spring 2020. We conclude with an argument for more consciously incorporating crisis management training into both preservice and in-service preparation and support for education leaders and for opening new lines of inquiry into crisis leadership at the school and district levels.

Keywords

leadership observational research organization theory/change principals

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

C. M.

Kritsonis

W. A.

(2006). An analysis of secondary schools’ crisis management preparedness: National implications. National Journal for Publishing and Mentoring Doctoral Student Research, 1(1), 1–7.

Bishop

W. E.

Fifolt

Peters

G. B.

Gurley

Collins

(2015). Perceptions and experiences of K-12 educational leaders in response to the 27 April 2011 tornadoes. School Leadership & Management, 35(2), 215–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2015.1041487

Boin

Kuipers

Overdijk

(2013). Leadership in times of crisis: A framework for assessment. International Review of Public Administration, 18(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2013.10805241

Brickman

H. K.

Jones

S. E.

Groom

S. E.

(2004). Evolving school-crisis management since 9/11. Education Digest, 69(9), 29–35.

Combe

I. A.

Carrington

D. J.

(2015). Leaders’ sensemaking under crises: Emerging cognitive consensus over time within management teams. Leadership Quarterly, 26(3), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.02.002

Connolly-Wilson

Reeves

(2013). School safety and crisis planning considerations for school psychologists. Crisis management. Communique, 41(6), 16–17.

Coopman

Young

(2009). Responding to tragedy. Principal Leadership, 9(5), 6–8.

Cornell

D. G.

Sheras

P. L.

(1998). Common errors in school crisis response: Learning from our mistakes. Psychology in Schools, 35(3), 297–307. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6807(199807)35:3%3C297::AID-PITS9%3E3.0.CO;2-K

Daughtry

(2015). Principal’s preparedness for, and experiences of, crisis events at school. [Doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina]. Scholar Commons. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3688

10.

Deloitte. (2018). Stronger, fitter, better: Crisis management for the resilient enterprise. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/GLOB305_Crisis-management-survey/DI_Crisis-Management-Survey.pdf

11.

Duhé

S. F.

(2005). The sources behind the first days of the anthrax attacks: What can practitioners learn? Public Relations Quarterly, 50(1), 7–13.

12.

Education Week. (2020). Map: Coronavirus and school closures in 2019–2020. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures-in-2019-2020/2020/03

13.

Elliott

C. B.

Taylor

(2006). Leading in the worst of times. Educational Leadership, 64(1), 82–86.

14.

Fein

Vossekuil

Pollack

Borum

Modzeleski

Reddy

(2002). Threat assessment in schools: A guide to managing threatening situations and to creating safe school climates. U.S. Secret Service & U.S. Department of Education.

15.

Fener

Cevik

(2015). Leadership in crisis management: Separation of leadership and executive concepts. Procedia Economics and Finance, 26, 695–701. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00817-5

16.

Fernandez

A. A.

Shaw

G. P.

(2020). Academic leadership in a time of crisis: The coronavirus and COVID-19. Journal of Leadership Studies, 14(1), 39–45. https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.21684

17.

Field

(2020, March 26). 5 lessons from campuses that closed after natural disasters. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/5-lessons-from-campuses-that-closed-after-natural-disasters/

18.

Fullan

(2006). The future of educational change: System thinkers in action. Journal of Educational Change, 7(3), 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-006-9003-9

19.

Fullan

(2007). Leading in a culture of change. Wiley.

20.

Gainey

B. S.

(2009). Crisis management’s new role in educational settings. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, 82(6), 267–274. https://doi.org/10.3200/TCHS.82.6.267-274

21.

Gainey

B. S.

(2010). Crisis management in public school districts. Organization Development Journal, 28(1), 89–95.

22.

Garran

(2013). A death at a school: What school leaders should do. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(4), 18–22.

23.

Ginsberg

Multon

K.D.

(2011). Leading through a fiscal nightmare: The impact on principals and superintendents. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(8), 42–47.

24.

Grissom

J. A.

Egalite

A. J.

Lindsay

C. A.

(2021). How principals affect students and schools: A systematic synthesis of two decades of research. Wallace Foundation. https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/How-Principals-Affect-Students-and-Schools.pdf

25.

Gross

S. J.

(2020). Applying turbulence theory to educational leadership in challenging times: A case-based approach. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315171357

26.

Hamilton

L. S.

Kaufman

J. H.

Diliberti

(2020). Teaching and leading through a pandemic: Key findings from the American Educator Panels Spring 2020 COVID-19 Surveys. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA168-2.html

27.

Harris

D. N.

Liu

Oliver

Balfe

Slaughter

Mattei

(2020). How America’s schools responded to the COVID crisis. National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice. https://educationresearchalliancenola.org/files/publications/20200713-Technical-Report-Harris-et-al-How-Americas-Schools-Responded-to-the-COVID-Crisis.pdf

28.

Hart

‘t, Heyse

Boin

R. A.

(2001). New trends in crisis management research and practice. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 9(4), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.00168

29.

Howat

Curtis

Landry

Farmer

Kroll

Douglass

(2012). Lessons from crisis recovery in schools: How hurricanes impacted schools, families and the community. School Leadership & Management, 32(5), 487–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.723613

30.

Howitt

A. M.

Leonard

H. B.

(2006, Fall). In the eye of the storm: Helping education leaders meet the challenge of dealing with disasters. Threshold Magazine, 10–13.

31.

Hess

F. M.

Kelly

A. P.

(2007). Learning to lead: What gets taught in principal-preparation programs. Teachers College Record, 109(1), 244–274.

32.

Ingenito

A. G.

(2004). A qualitative study exploring the perceptions of students concerning the impact of tragedy and disaster upon the role of their school organization [Doctoral dissertation, Seton Hall University], 106. https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/106

33.

James

E. H.

Wooten

L. P.

(2005). Leadership as (un)usual: How to display competence in times of crisis. Organizational Dynamics, 34(2), 141–152.

34.

Jimerson

S. R.

Brock

S. E.

Pletcher

S. W.

(2005). An integrated model of school crisis preparedness and intervention: A shared foundation to facilitate crisis intervention. School Psychology International, 26(3), 275–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034305055974

35.

Kapucu

(2008). Planning for disasters and responding to catastrophes: Error of the third type in disaster policy and planning. International Journal of Public Policy, 3(5/6), 313–327.

36.

Kennedy-Paine

Reeves

M. A.

Brock

S. E.

(2013). How schools heal after a tragedy. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(4), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171309500409

37.

Key

(2020). Survey: School engagement is surprisingly high, despite concerns about future. University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/3205/understanding-coronavirus-school-engagement-and-concerns/

38.

Kitamura

(2019). Crisis leadership and management of superintendents during the 2017-18 California wildfires [Doctoral dissertation, Brandman University] Dissertations, 263. https://digitalcommons.brandman.edu/edd_dissertations/263

39.

Kuhfeld

Tarasawa

(2020). The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement [Research brief]. NWEA. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/the-covid-19-slide-what-summer-learning-loss-can-tell-us-about-the-potential-impact-of-school-closures-on-student-academic-achievement/

40.

Lake

(2020). What we’re learning from an early look at district COVID-19 response plans. Center on Reinventing Public Education. https://www.crpe.org/thelens/what-were-learning-early-look-district-covid-19-response-plans

41.

Lake

Dusseault

(2020). Districts and CMOs are making progress on instruction and monitoring, but lag in grading and attendance. Center on Reinventing Public Education. https://www.crpe.org/thelens/districts-and-cmos-are-making-progress-instruction-and-monitoring-lag-grading-and-attendance

42.

Lichtenstein

Schonfeld

D. J.

Kline

(1994). School crisis response: Expecting the unexpected. Educational Leadership, 52(3), 79–83.

43.

Likierman

(2020, January–February). The elements of good judgment: How to improve your decision-making. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/01/the-elements-of-good-judgment

44.

Lizzio

Wilson

(2007). Developing critical professional judgement: The efficacy of a self-managed reflective process. Studies in Continuing Education, 29(3), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/01580370701419189

45.

Lockwood

N. R.

(2005). Crisis management in today’s business environment: HR’s strategic role. Society for Human Resource Management Research Quarterly, 50(12), 1–10.

46.

Low

L. L.

(2008). You don’t know what you don’t know: Choices for school administrators when crisis hits. CAPEA Education Leadership and Administration, 20, 101–108.

47.

Mitroff

(2005). Crisis leadership. Leadership Excellence, 22(10), 11.

48.

Mumford

M. D.

Friedrich

T. L.

Caughron

J. J.

Byrne

C. L.

(2007). Leader cognition in real-world settings: How do leaders think about crises? Leadership Quarterly, 18(6), 515–543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.09.002

49.

Patrick

S. K.

Newsome

(2020, June). Teaching through a global pandemic: COVID-19 insights from the Tennessee Educator Survey. Tennessee Education Research Alliance, Vanderbilt University. https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/TERA/files/TES2020_COVID_Brief_FINAL.pdf

50.

Pearson

C. M.

Clair

J. A.

(1998). Reframing crisis management. Academy of Management Review, 23(1), 59–76. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1998.192960

51.

Preble

J. F.

(1997). Integrating the crisis management perspective into the strategic management process. Journal of Management Studies, 34(5), 769–791. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00071

52.

Raisor

M. L.

(2011). What highly effective leaders do during difficult times [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana State University]. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (Accession No. 868276694). http://scholars.indstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10484/8082/Raisor%2C%20Michael.PDF?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

53.

Robertson

N. C.

(2017). Principal preparedness for crisis management in urban high schools [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Mississippi]. Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 507. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/507

54.

Salovey

Mayer

J. D.

(1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG

55.

Scott

W. R.

Davis

G. F.

(2007). Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural, and open systems perspectives. Prentice Hall.

56.

Schein

E. H.

(2013). Humble inquiry: The gentle art of asking instead of telling. Berrett-Koehler.

57.

Simmons

K. T.

Douglas

D. Y.

(2018). After the storm: Helping children cope with trauma after natural disasters. Communique, 46(5), 23–25.

58.

Simon

H. A.

(1957). Models of man: social and rational; mathematical essays on rational human behavior in society setting. Wiley.

59.

Stern

(2013). Preparing: The sixth task of crisis leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3), 51–56.

60.

Thach

(2012). Managerial perceptions of crisis leadership in public and private organizations: An interview study in the United States. International Journal of Management, 29(2), 712–725.

61.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2020). Education: From disruption to recovery. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse

62.

U.S. Department of Education. (2008). A guide to school vulnerability assessments: Key principles for safe schools. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED515952.pdf

63.

Virginia Department of Education. (2002). Model school crisis management plan. https://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/safety_crisis_management/emergency_crisis_management/model_plan.pdf

64.

Weber

Glynn

M. A.

(2006). Making sense with institutions: Context, thought and action in Karl Weick’s theory. Organization Studies, 27(11), 1639–1660. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606068343

65.

Weick

K. E.

(1988). Enacted sensemaking in crisis situations. Journal of Management Studies, 25(4), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1988.tb00039.x

66.

Weick

K. E.

(1993). The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(4), 628–652. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393339

67.

Weick

K. E.

(1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Sage.

68.

Weick

K. E.

Sutcliffe

K. M.

(2015). Managing the unexpected: Sustained performance in a complex world. John Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119175834

69.

Weist

M. D.

Sander

M. A.

Lever

N. A.

Rosner

L. E.

Praitt

D. B.

Lowie

J. A.

Hill

Lombardo

Christodulu

K. V.

(2002). School mental health’s response to terrorism and disaster. Journal of School Violence, 1(4), 5–31.

70.

Wooten

L. P.

James

E. H.

(2008). Linking crisis management and leadership competencies: The role of human resource development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(3), 352–379. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422308316450

71.

Zenere

F. J.

(2013). Symposium of hope: Recovery and resiliency after the Sandy Hook tragedy. Communiqué, 41(7), 22–23.