The United States has highly invested in the education sector. Effective leadership has been displayed within the country’s education system and it has helped to ensure success across various educational settings. The country’s educational system has largely improved due to the collaboration between various stakeholders in the public and private sectors. Some of the educational organizations that have helped to improve the United States’ educational system include the American Educational Research Association (public sector) and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (private sector). The mentioned educational organizations share various leadership objectives, and they largely differ in their leadership techniques and styles, and situational characteristics.
Similarity
American Educational Research Association and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities share numerous leadership goals. Leaders associated with these mentioned educational organizations have largely concentrated on helping to improve the United States’ education system. The leaders have focused on achieving such an objective by ensuring that their organizations collaborate with other relevant educational entities and obliging to the national educational standards that have been put in place at the federal and state levels.
Differences
The mentioned organizations’ leadership largely differs in numerous aspects. One of the aspects that these educational organizations differ in is what they value. The American Educational Research Association’s leadership largely values the needs and interests of the general public. The objective of this organization is to improve the overall well-being of American society academically (Spillane, 2003). The organization endeavors to balance the needs of the association, interest groups, and the general public. The leadership of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, on the other hand, values making profits in order to survive in the highly competitive business environment rather than valuing the interests and needs of the general public. The association is a for-profit organization; its survival is based on the profits gained from the educational services provided by the entities it owns.
The educational organizations also differ in the aspect of goal setting. In the public sector, objectives are abstract, overarching, and are difficult to measure because the goals are set at the federal level, and they apply to a broader jurisdiction rather than a single organization. This implies that the American Educational Research Association’s leadership largely focuses on achieving objectives set at the federal level. The success of educational organizations associated with the public sector is measured based on whether they have helped to improve the academic wellbeing of American society and improved the country’s educational system. In contrastingly, the leadership of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities sets its own goals, and the success is measured based on whether the objectives may have contributed to profits or losses.
The organizations also differ in the aspect of accountability and the authority of the leaders. Leaders of the American Educational Research Association are accountable to a larger group of stakeholders, including the federal government and the general public. The leaders of this educational organization are often under public scrutiny for every activity they undertake (Raj, 2017). Conversely, leaders of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities are not subject to public scrutiny. However, they remain accountable to a small group of shareholders and employees. Another aspect that the leadership of the mentioned organization differs in is authoritative power. Although leaders associated with the American Educational Research Association have a huge amount of responsibility, they have limited authority. This is because they are required to oblige to rules and policies put in place by the federal government to ensure that their leadership and management practices are well controlled to curb cases such as fund embezzlement, corruption, and ineffective use of organizational resources (Boyne, 2002). Leaders associated with the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, on the other hand, have the power to make rules that govern the organization and the association’s entities.
Conclusion
The U.S. has invested heavily in the education system to improve the academic wellbeing of its citizens. Several organizations exist in the public and private sectors to help the country to achieve its objectives of improving the academic wellbeing of American society, including the American Educational Research Association and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. The leaderships of the organizations share some goals but differ in numerous aspects. The organizations’ leadership focuses on improving the academic well-being of Americans and the educational system. However, the organizations’ have largely differed on their leadership styles, characteristics, and traits. The difference is in aspects, such as accountability, the authority to make rules, goal setting, and values. The American Educational Research Association values improvement of the academic wellbeing of the general public; its leaders are accountable to a larger group, including the general public and the government, and they follow strict procedural rules instated at the federal level. On the other hand, leaders associated with the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities are accountable to a small group of shareholders and customers; the organization’s leadership value profits to ensure its survival; leaders participate in the formulation of organizational rules.
References
Boyne, G. A. (2002). Public and private management: What’s the difference? Journal of Management Studies, 39(1), 97-122. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00284
Raj, S. R. (2017). A comparative analysis of public and private sector sustainability reporting of goals and targets. https://digital.library.ryerson.ca/islandora/object/RULA%3A6440
Spillane, J. P. (2003). American Educational Research Association. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(4), 343-346. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3699581