Louisiana's public elementary and secondary education system is impaired by among other factors, an uncoordinated and ineffective state governance structure. While the state's curriculum and teaching certificate standards are among the nation's highest, student achievement levels continue to rank among the lowest. Though important, reform initiatives in Louisiana are isolated in their scope and effect. The state needs leadership and better policy management to develop a systemic plan for reform.
Creative and innovative management (CIM) combines traditional management functions with an entrepreneurial spirit of new ideas and methods for production and problem-solving. CIM incorporates into organizational behavior the objective of continuous improvement. This management model offers policymakers -- and specifically, Louisiana's education policymakers -- another option in balancing the demands on government with the fiscal, political and social constraints on public policy making.
--Author's foreword.
