When Reforms Travel: The Sequel

In a previous paper, we described the process in which a reform, grown in the soil of one school district (Community District #2 in New York City) was transplanted to new soil, a new context (the San Diego City Schools). In this paper we examine the condition of the reform 6 years later, at the time Anthony Alvarado, the architect of the reform in New York City and its transplant to San Diego, left the San Diego City Schools, and a new phase of reform was underway. From 1998 through 2002, the San Diego City Schools engaged in a dramatic, daring, and possibly unprecedented reform. Their overarching goal was expressed consistently in terms of student learning. To achieve that commendable goal, the District instituted a content-driven, centralized, comprehensive, and fast-paced reform in 1998. We discuss the tensions that were produced when the ambitiousness of a reform outpaced the capacity of educators to carry it out; when the values, norms, and beliefs of teachers and principals col These developments have consequences for our assessment of how reforms travel from one district to another. Reforms that were developed for and proved their effectiveness in elementary settings appear to have limited transferability to middle and high school settings because elementary students’ learning trajectories are different from adolescents and the organizations of high schools are very different from elementary schools. And reforms that privilege the technical dimension of school reform must always be sensitive to the way that interacts with the political and cultural dimensions.     

Innovation in PhD completion: the hardy shall succeed (and be happy!)

What is it that makes a PhD such a difficult process, and prevents candidates from completing on time? In this paper, we propose that self‐sabotaging behaviours, including overcommitting, procrastination and perfectionism, have a role to play. At Flinders University, we have developed a program in which we work with PhD students to help to reduce these behaviours and give them the strategies and attitudes they need to successfully (and happily!) complete their thesis. The program utilises cognitive–behavioural coaching, an evidence‐based strategy that we claim leads to significant and long‐term behavioural change. An evaluation of the program indicates that it is very successful, improving students’ ability to manage their time, set specific times for writing, and show work to their supervisor regularly, and that these behaviours were associated with lower levels of stress and improved ability to complete.     

Purpose is Dead,Long Live Purpose!

Science & Education -