Strategic Change Plan for School Uniforms in K–12 Districts

Introduction and Purpose of the Change Initiative

Following the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, there have been increased calls for accountability among educators who provide educational services for the country's young learners. In response, a growing number of school districts across the country have implemented school uniforms as part of their larger efforts to improve student discipline and morale, as well as to achieve better academic outcomes (Walmsley, 2011). One educator emphasizes that "the presence of school uniforms brings a sense of duty to the students and respect for the school and teachers. School uniforms help students focus on school and not each other's clothes. Because students dress in uniforms, they're reminded that their 'job' is to be a student" (p. 63).

There are also notable benefits for parents involved in the proposed change initiative, most especially significantly reduced costs for school clothes, since young people do not compete with one another and the costs of school uniforms are typically far less than the trendy fashions and accessories that characterize many school districts today. In this regard, Walmsley also emphasizes that "because everyone looks basically the same, differences in economic status are not as blatant" (2011, p. 63). Beyond these desirable outcomes, studies have also shown that school districts implementing school uniforms as part of their dress codes experience less crime as well (Forcey & Harris, 1999). Taken together, the change initiative envisioned here represents a "win-win" approach to improving school discipline and academic outcomes.

The vision statement for this change initiative is: "The school district can help its students achieve superior academic outcomes by ensuring that the classroom environment is conducive to learning through the establishment of a dress code that requires school uniforms to be worn on a regular basis."

The balanced scorecard approach can be applied in virtually any organizational setting and can measure success by identifying quantifiable metrics that serve as benchmarks against which further performance is measured to determine the effect of the change initiative (Kaplan & Norton, 1992, 2001). For this dress code change initiative, the measures of success are defined as:

Vision Statement and Balanced Scorecard Framework

1. The percentage of students who complied with the mandatory school district dress code; and,

2. The effect that the change initiative has on academic performance levels as measured by the standardized testing regimens used in the school district.

The balanced scorecard model can help organizations align change initiatives with their organizational goals by implementing performance management and reward systems that are consistent with and help maintain collective action toward the desired outcomes and behaviors (McLean, 2006).

Models, Assessments, and Interventions

The balanced scorecard combines performance metrics along four perspectives, as follows:

1. Customer Perspective. For the purposes of this change initiative, this metric focuses on the school district's students. It emphasizes the external environment to better understand and identify student needs; a common measure used for this metric is the level of student satisfaction resulting from the change.

2. Internal Business Processes Perspective. This measure focuses internally along a value chain comprising innovation, operations, and processes. A common measure used here is efficiency.

3. Learning and Growth Perspective. This measure provides the foundation to satisfy the other change initiative objectives. A common measure used for this purpose is the level of teacher satisfaction with the change initiative with respect to its impact on discipline and the learning environment.