The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) is a non-profit organization offering practical advice to schools, teachers, and students. The mission of the Center is to analyze educational system all over the world, synthesize their best practices and implement them in the United States. This goal presupposes interaction between analysts and teachers for the achievement of feasible results. Understanding the basics of people’s cooperation is essential in ascertaining the hindrances to organization efficiency.
First, for a team to function, all its members have to realize their collective purpose. If there is a consensus on how to approach it, there will be efficient teamwork. The history of NCEE shows examples of cooperation between people with the same purpose. The Center originates from the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, which was held by Carnegie Corporation in 1985. The subsequent result of the forum was the establishment of NCEE. The governor of New York invited the new organization to implement the recommendations of the forum in Rochester. Management of NCEE needed technical resources, which were given to them by the governor. As a result, the first seeds of the future educational redesign were planted by the authorities and analysts working together (NCEE, n.d.). The lack of common purpose would result in each side pursuing their agenda, with the Center issuing theoretical recommendations, which would not be supported by the governor’s initiative.
However, a shared view of purpose amounts to nothing unless it is supported by a solid structure. A group of people work most efficiently when each employee knows what they are doing and what their role is. This need to delegate responsibilities is reflected in the organization of NCEE. The Center has three divisions, each executing their functions. The Center on International Education Benchmarking conducts research of foreign educational systems, the Center on Policy Solutions promotes the NCEE programs in states, and the Center on System Leadership works with schools and teachers to put its findings into practice. It should be noted that not all school principals deem the NCEE programs effective. Specifically, a different understanding of how mathematics and reading should be taught creates organization inefficiency. The discrepancies between the NCEE recommendations and teachers’ experience result in lower performance of students compared to those that follow the Center’ programs entirely (NCEE, n.d.). The subsequent implication is that people work together most efficiently when they follow the same structure and procedures without divergences.
One more lesson to be learned from NCEE is that organization efficiency can be jeopardized by the attempt to pursue different directions at the same time. As has already been mentioned, the NCEE uses The Center on International Education Benchmarking to keep track of foreign educational developments. However, the Center on System Leadership works closely with school administrators, who are accustomed to domestic practices. This hinders organization efficiency because NCEE is forced to favor highly performing educational technologies while interacting with the US students and teachers who are not familiar with them (NCEE, n.d.). As a result, some schools reject NCEE’s recommendations, essentially rendering its efforts to improve American education meaningless.
Altogether, it should be evident that an organization work efficiently when its members follow the same overall goal. NCEE pursues the improvement of US education as its main mission. As schools and authorities are also willing to invest in talent, they use NCEE’s recommendations. However, successful cooperation needs structure, which is not always absent, as some teachers do not accept the Center’s programs. Finally, NCEE suffers from dual loyalties, which manifest in the conflict of foreign educational systems with school practices. Overall, the lack of a single direction hinders organizational efficiency, which is evident in NCEE’s case.
Reference
NCEE. (n.d.). History of NCEE. Web.