Recommended Data for the First Step in External Environmental Scanning for Public Schools
Recommended Data for the First Step in External Environmental Scanning for Public Schools
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Publication or External Link
Date
1990
Authors
Poole, Molly Linda
Advisor
Dudley, James
Citation
DRUM DOI
Abstract
Environmental scanning, a part of strategic planning,
begins with the collection of information from the broad
social, economic, political, and technological climate
surrounding an organization. The purpose of this study
was to improve the guidelines for the first step in
external environmental scanning by developing a checklist
of suggested data public school personnel might consider.
Through a modification of both Q-sort and Delphi
techniques, 10 representatives of school districts across
the nation who have experience in scanning
(Practitioners) and 6 persons widely recognized for their
contributions to the development of scanning literature
and practice (Experts) scored the degree to which they
would recommend 90 original test items and 4 items
submitted by participants. Based on the final results, a
suggested checklist of 68 items was constructed.
Predictably, the majority of these 68 items concern
population descriptions, budget patterns, socio-economic
factors, and social issues. Most of the rejected items relate to housing, transportation, and economics. The
same ten items scored highest in all three rounds. Nine
of the items identify population size and composition or
specific statistics on education enrollment and
attainment. The tenth item was "number of single-parent
families". No definitive explanation was reached as to
why this issue was recommended over other equally popular
and significant ones. Although consensus increased with
each round, the group means continued to differ on 33
items. The disagreement in scores is most likely
attributable to differences in perspective and in
criteria used for recommending items. The study led to
three major conclusions. First, the recommended
checklist offers valuable assistance to scanners,
especially novices, but it also has limitations.
Scanners must adapt the checklist to their own situations
and they must progress beyond any suggested list to
explore new indicators of opportunities and threats.
second, environmental scanning is still in the
developmental stage even among experienced school
systems. Finally, participant comments indicate a lack
of rapport between Practitioners and Experts which could
hamper efforts to adapt scanning to public schools.
Despite these difficulties, continued implementation of
external environmental scanning is strongly recommended.