Book review of We Can't Teach What We Don't Know: White Teachers,Multicultural Schools,by Gary R. Howard

This case study describes how an urban school system evolved to support an externally developed and externally introduced whole-school reform (WSR) effort. Based on interview data with school district staff and external partners, it analyzes a central office reorganization that placed all schools implementing a combination of Direct Instruction (DI) and Core Knowledge (CK) reforms into one administrative area under a single area executive officer (instead of within their geographic administrative areas). It addresses how the creation of a DI Area grouping all DI/CK schools together facilitated the continued implementation of the reform models, as well as problems perceived with the new central office arrangement. Although limited by reliance on qualitative school-level data from the early years of the reform's implementation, this study's conclusions contribute to the small but growing research literature on the role of school systems-and, in particular, central office administrators-in creating supportive structures for WSR to achieve the best possible student achievement results.     

Theory-based Change and Change-based Theory: Going Deeper, Going Broader

This article examines the questions of sustaining and extending theory-based educational change reforms, which are designed by laboratories outside of schools and whose motivating theoretical base assumes change in elemental aspects of classroom practice. This article defines sustainability of theory-based reform as more than maintaining current implementation, rather as deepening reforms in ways that allow for flexible response to changes in student, curricular, and school contexts. It draws upon five years of research in schools and classrooms engaged in one of three theory-based reforms to discuss five essential factors affecting sustainability: resources, reformers' learning, knowledge of the first principles of the reform and the support of a community of practice, the principal, and the district. This article then turns to ``scaling up.' Rather than merely replicating structures, extending theory-based reform to new sites requires building compatibility between the normative base of the reform with that in the classrooms, schools and districts in which they are growing as well as the capacity of the classroom, school, and district to see it through. This article suggests three main factors that reform founders must focus upon to scale up their reforms – attention to site selection, a proactive stance toward district contexts, and planned transfer of authority. The article concludes that issues of invention, implementation, sustainability, and scale occur simultaneously when going deeper and broader with theory-based change.     

Implementing State Standards for Science Education: What District Policy Makers Make of the Hoopla

Premised on the assumption that school districts play an important role in the implementation of state and federal policy, this article explores the districts' response to state science standards. Adopting a cognitive perspective on the implementation process, the authors examine the ideas about science education that district policy makers construct from science standards. Our analysis illuminates how the ideas about reforming science education that district policy makers come to understand from new science standards contribute to these standards being adapted at the district level in ways that miss or misrepresent their core intent. The article identifies prominent patterns in district policy makers' understandings of the science reforms. Based on this analysis, the authors argue that a cause of implementation failure, rarely examined in the literature, concerns the ways in which local implementers miss or misconstrue the intent of policy proposals. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach: 37: 401–425, 2000     

Can We Transplant Educational Reform, and Does It Last?

Drawing upon qualitative data gathered ina longitudinal study of 13 U.S. elementaryschools engaged in reform, this articleexamines how comprehensive school reform modelsare adapted as educators' ``co-constructed'reforms in their local contexts and thesustainability and expirations of reformefforts over time. Contextual features, frompractical circumstances such as resourcelimitations to state and district policies toteachers' ideologies, influenced educators inschools to modify reform features to meet localneeds. Findings also show that more often thannot, reforms were not sustained. Six yearsafter the beginning of the study, only four ofthe thirteen schools were still implementingtheir chosen reform designs. The changingdistrict and state policies, leadership, andagendas affected the sustainability ofcomprehensive school reform models in differentways, quite substantially in some cases andless so in others, depending on localconditions, experiences with reform, andcapacity. Implications for policy and practiceare discussed.     

Happy Marriage or Uneasy Alliance? The Relationship Between Comprehensive School Reform and State Accountability Systems

The purpose of this article is to examine how the relationship between comprehensive school reform (CSR) and state accountability systems helps or hinders school improvement efforts. This article draws on case study data collected in schools in 3 states that received funding to implement reforms through the federal CSR program. Findings show that the 3 states all had high-stakes accountability systems in place (albeit of varying levels of maturity) and these accountability systems often had much more of an impact on teacher practice than the CSR models themselves. In some cases, there was synergy between the models and the states' own reform agendas, but in other cases, teachers felt as if they were being asked to achieve 2 independent goals. The states varied in their levels of support of schools' CSR efforts, depending on the primacy of CSR in the state reform picture and the political will and experience of the individuals in charge of CSR at the state level. Implications for the policy and practice of states, reform design teams, and district and school educators are discussed.     

“It’s what we’ve always been doing.” Exploring tensions between school culture and change

In this article, we compare two North Carolina public schools that were simultaneously implementing reforms with seemingly different orientations, the A+ School Program and the ABCs of Public Education. We use the literature on caring and critiques of bureaucracy as a framework to look at the concurrent implementation of two educational reforms in North Carolina. We discuss data from a 5 year longitudinal study and critique our own assumptions as we develop portraits of schools that are both situated and complex. We do this to explore the question: In what ways does educational reform actually change educational practice? We develop a framework that articulates a critique of bureaucracy from the standpoint of caring, locate the culture of each school within the theoretical framework, and analyze how the culture of schools affects the implementation of educational reform. We conclude that reform is deeply cultural and that ethnographic methods are essential to understanding educational reform efforts.     

Creating a Comprehensive School Reform Model: The Talent Development High School With Career Academies

This article discusses the need for comprehensive reforms in school organization, curriculum and instruction, and professional development in order to address the typical, serious problems of large, urban, nonselective high schools. The article describes the design, implementation, and effectiveness of the Talent Development High School with Career Academies, a comprehensive school reform model developed to meet these schools' needs. A plan is outlined for additional research, development, and evaluation activities to complete this model for the remaining core high school academic subjects and grades, and to provide technical assistance materials and support for further replicating the model in high schools across the nation.     

When Opting Out is Not a Choice: Implications for NCLB's Transfer Option from Charlotte,North Carolina

A key provision of No Child Left Behind is the opportunity for students to transfer from a low-performing school to a high-performing one. Drawing from a case study of school reform in Charlotte, North Carolina, this article examines the implementation and early outcomes of NCLB's voluntary transfer option for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School (CMS) district. For the 2004–05 school year, fully 92% of the eligible families did not exercise their choice to exit from their low-performing schools. The experiences of CMS illustrate how larger social, economic, and political contexts constrain the implementation of standards-based reforms like NCLB in general and, in particular, the limitations of the transfer option for improving academic achievement and educational equity.     

The Return of Large-Scale Reform

Education Reform on a large scale was first attempted in the 1960s. Itfailed to make a difference largely because advocates of reform ignoredissues of implementation and did not address local institutions and cultures.In the 1990s, we see a return to large-scale reform. This time there is agreater appreciation of the complexity of the task, and greater attentionpaid to implementation strategies as well as a growing sense of urgency aboutthe need for reform.This article reviews three ``types' of large-scale reform and theemerging lessons being learned. The three forms of reform reviewedthrough case studies and associated research are:1. whole school district reform involving all schools in a district;2. whole school reform in which hundreds of schools attempt toimplement particular models of change, and3. state or national initiatives in which all or most of the schoolsin the state are involved.Eight factors and issues are identified and discussed – factors,if addressed, promise to achieve reform on a larger scale than ever before.     

Assessing Institutionalization of Curricular and Pedagogical Reforms

Stakeholders often want evidence that curricular and pedagogical reforms will endure, but institutionalization of reforms is typically assessed superficially, if at all. This study involved developing and testing an Institutionalization Process Model. The model was developed from literature on institutional theory and a qualitative investigation of factors influencing institutionalization of externally funded curricular and pedagogical reforms at 7 engineering schools. The reforms focused on content (design), method (group projects), and improving the climate for students underrepresented in engineering. The model posits that regulative, normative, and cognitive institutionalization processes affect the likely diffusion of curricular and pedagogical reforms beyond faculty members directly involved in the reform effort. Subsequently, institutional data and a faculty survey conducted at the seven engineering schools were used to test the model using logistic regression. Findings showed that cognitive institutionalization indicators had a stronger influence than regulative or normative indicators on diffusion of design and group projects. The normative indicator of perceived support for teaching was the only significant predictor of increased sensitivity to the needs of underrepresented students.     

The Interrelationship of Beliefs,Context, and Learning: The Case of a Teacher Reacting to Language Policy

In this article, I trace the complex ways that literacy and language policy are translated into classroom practice through the examination of a single telling case.1 I demonstrate that the role teachers play in the process can best be understood by considering a variety of factors which have been advanced in policy research to explain variations in policy implementation. These include the nature of the local school context, the beliefs and experience of the teacher, and ways in which the teacher might learn from the new policy context. I underscore these claims with empirical data related to a teacher's role in the enactment of Proposition 227-the California initiative designed to end bilingual education. The article presents select findings from a 11/2-year-long ethnographic study of a California district that allowed individual schools to develop their own Proposition 227 implementation plans. Through detailed examinations of the classroom literacy practice of a former bilingual teacher, this article illustrates how the individual qualities of a teacher played a significant role in the enactment of literacy practice.     

Reform Implementation and the Realities within which Teachers Work: A Namibian case study

Implementation is currently considered a critical stage of educational reform. This article focuses on the pivotal role of teachers in the achievement of effective implementation. They ultimately implement reforms. The teacher's role in the reform process however, has received little empirical research attention and tends not to be seriously considered by policy makers. This article discusses the findings of a three-year (1995-1997) research study in Namibia which suggests that the failure of policy makers to take into account the realities within which teachers work, their 'classroots realities', led to the development of English Language Teaching reforms that were significantly beyond teachers' capacity. Consequently, teachers did not successfully implement them. The article explores this within a framework of objective and subjective 'classroots reality' implementation factors. In view of the paucity of empirical research that explores implementation, this framework can improve our understanding of the depth and complexity of the implementation process and provide useful guidelines upon which policy makers can draw.     

“External” Organizations and the Politics of Urban Educational Leadership: The Case of New Small Autonomous Schools Initiatives

Members of organizations traditionally outside public school systems have begun to take on central, and in some cases internal, leadership roles and responsibilities in the implementation of ambitious educational improvement initiatives. How are these arrangements playing out in practice? This article explores that question with a 3-year qualitative investigation of the participation of two such organizations—a school reform support organization and a consortium of foundations—in the implementation of new small autonomous schools initiatives in Oakland (California) and Chicago. Using Malen's politics of implementation framework, this article reveals how external organizations influenced the implementation of district initiatives with significant consequences for both the reform strategy and their own ability to sustain their involvement in implementation over time. The article concludes with implications for the research and practice of educational leadership.     

The social composition of students entering the university of Melbourne in 1969 and 1970

The paper contributes to the debate on the implementation of policy reforms developing a typology for implementation based on the initial agreement on means and goals at the time of reform design. It is argued that the volume and nature of knowledge gathering and stakeholder involvement required to gain approval of a policy and avoid the possibility of implementation failure should differ depending on the initial level of agreement, providing thus a more nuanced view on the importance of these factors than previous work. The argument is illustrated through a case study of the 2004 reform of the Mexican Technical Baccalaureate. This case study shows how knowledge gathering and stakeholder involvement affected both the design and implementation of a reform process and how political, social and cultural factors shape reform processes.     

How teachers perceive the new curriculum reform: Lessons from a school district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The meanings that a teacher attaches to the new curriculum reforms act as his or her map on the curriculum implementation journey, and these usually determine the success of the education reforms. This research article explores the meanings attached to the new Science curriculum reforms by primary school teachers in a school district in South Africa, where the perceived meanings emanated from, as well as the role they played in the implementation of the reforms in the classroom. It is argued that new curriculum reforms have to take place concurrently with other changes in order for them to have a significant and long-lasting effect. Three possible ways will be suggested that will help the teachers to avoid formulating reform meanings that are not aligned with the vision and goals of the new curriculum.     

Teachers’ responses to curriculum policy implementation: colonial constraints for curriculum reform

A new approach to curriculum and implementation in a new era normally requires schools and teachers to take more responsibility for student learning. This might present a challenge at any time, particularly when teachers have been used to more directives and less professional approaches to curriculum implementation. In order to meet such a challenge, a new approach to curriculum policy, namely “soft” policy, was used by policy-makers to implement curriculum reform. With the provision of substantial resources, it was expected by the policy-makers that schools and teachers would have better opportunities to develop themselves professionally and manage the new changes effectively. However, such a view misread the situation because the historical trend and present situation of teachers’ professional development were overlooked. This paper uses case studies of schools and teachers involved in the current reforms to show how teachers and schools implemented the reform process. The cases demonstrate how reforms were understood at the local level and the extent to which it could be claimed that implementation had taken place.     

School health and wellbeing and national education system reform: A qualitative study

The education systems of the four UK nations are diverging, and the education system in Wales is undergoing major reform with substantially increased emphasis on health and wellbeing. Understanding the implementation of major policy and system reforms requires an understanding of system histories and starting points. This study aimed to explore the perceived roles of schools in contemporary society, and how this role has evolved over time; the aims of the reforms, with a particular focus on health and wellbeing; and perceived barriers and facilitators for implementation. Interviews were held with senior stakeholders in the Welsh education system who held a strategic role in shaping the reforms. These included senior members of government and schools with a remit in either design of the curriculum or educationalists’ professional learning, Wales's school regulatory body, and those with a multidisciplinary remit in health and education. Interviews were subjected to thematic analysis, which produced a number of themes related to each objective, including ‘a changing society and increasing expectations on schools’, ‘the perceived role of schools in supporting health and wellbeing’, ‘the aims of the reform’, ‘what will success look like?’, ‘national level barriers and facilitators’ and ‘community and school level barriers and facilitators’. Findings suggest that education system reform requires change at multiple levels of the education system. Consideration of each level, and the interactions between them, is necessary for achieving change.     

Implications of NCLB Accountability for Comprehensive School Reform

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability mechanisms have the potential to derail comprehensive school reform (CSR) implementation. For those pursuing CSR, the question is how to reconcile the implementation of NCLB accountability mandates with ongoing CSR efforts. Drawing from longitudinal data from a national study of CSR, this article explores this question. Survey data indicate that schools identified for improvement are no more likely to drop their models than are other CSR schools. Moreover, it appears that when CSR schools are identified for improvement, this identification stimulates a higher rate of model implementation than in schools that are not identified under NCLB. Case study interview data revealed that a district variation in stakeholders' awareness and perceptions of NCLB and the interactions of NCLB accountability mechanisms and CSR sustainability.     

From reform to reform: how school reforms are motivated and interrupted – the case of ‘school inspections’ in Germany

ABSTRACT

In this article, we analyse the implementation and change of a specific school reform in Germany using the example of external school evaluation in Lower Saxony: the school inspection. We investigate how and why a newly implemented reform is itself subject to reform shortly afterwards. We begin with a historical background of German school reforms over the last 40 years. Then, we consider school reforms through the lens of organisational theory. Finally, we combine the historical and theoretical perspectives on school reforms placing particular emphasis on more recent developments in external school evaluation. Based on these considerations, we elaborate some theses on reform and routine in schools.     

Implementation: Measuring and Explaining the Fidelity of CSR Implementation

Comprehensive school reform (CSR) is only as effective as its implementation. By using data collected for the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR), this article explores the factors that predict CSR model implementation and the ways that CSR model implementation varies. We found little difference in the fidelity of implementation between schools implementing a CSR program and their matched comparison schools, but we found vast differences in the fidelity of implementation between different CSR program implementation keys (the normative guidelines received from CSR program developers on which we based our implementation measures). The fidelity of implementation is predicted by multiple factors, including the CSR program implementation keys, the principal's instructional leadership, the measure of teachers' professional community, and the usefulness of the CSR developers' assistance. The change in implementation is associated with positive change in principal's instructional leadership and usefulness of the CSR developers' assistance.