Abstract
To survive in an unknown future, schools must become learning organizations that can manage change through self-renewal. The answer lies in creating an intrapreneurial environment where school personnel have the capacity to be creative and innovative. This study examined high schools where reform efforts are succeeding to determine the degree to which an intrapreneurial climate existed. Descriptive and ex post facto research were used. The 1994 California Distinguished Developing and Performance High Schools and an equal-sized random sample of all other California high schools were included in the study. Eighty-one percent of the total population responded to the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test for independent samples, analysis of variance, and Duncan Multiple Range Test. Twenty-three out of twenty-seven intrapreneurial climate factors and the three phases examined were found to have significant differences at the.05 level in the extent to which they were present in performance, developing, and comparison high schools. Distinguished performance and developing schools operated as one entity in their ability to establish intrapreneurial environments. Comparison schools were the outlier in all cases. Demographic factors studied did not appear to influence the degree of intrapreneurship in the high schools. There was very little difference between distinguished high schools analyzed in this study and distinguished elementary schools examined in Rutherford's (1994) study. Distinguished high schools cited as the most prevalent climate factor in their schools the realization that "mistakes are an inevitable part of innovation." They also had a high rating for "encourage intrapreneurs to take limited, reasonable risks." There was also a high incidence of climate factors that intensify communication. The strong presence of these factors in distinguished schools, and relatively weak showing in comparison schools, signals their importance. This study overwhelmingly established that intrapreneurship leads to dramatic reform in public schools. It also confirmed that leadership, not demographic factors, influences the establishment of an environment that releases creativity. This study beckons educational leaders to become masters of the winds of change by embracing intrapreneurship as a viable way to induce broad-based innovations into academic institutions.