Managing Reform: Lessons from Urban High Schools

ABSTRACT

American high schools present an extremely difficult, nearly intractable setting for serious educational reform efforts. Yet such efforts can succeed. This article reports results from a survey of 179 urban comprehensive high schools that were successfully implementing change programs based on effective schools principles.

All schools encountered problems of implementation. Larger‐scale, instructionally‐oriented, and longer‐lasting programs induced more problems. Problems were only moderated, not eliminated, by good‐quality planning.

Given the problem‐richness of change efforts, the major determinant of successful implementation was good problem‐coping. It was made more likely by the presence of consensus (shared vision), support of key stakeholders in and out of the school, planning quality, external assistance, and administrative time spent. Case studies showed that the presence of an empowered change management group aided all these critical factors.

Schools with the most impact (defined as student outcomes, teacher improvement, and organizational improvement) had focused on teacher or organizational changes to begin with, coped with the inevitable problems well, had internal and external constituencies supporting the change effort, and sustained the work for a longer period of time (typically 4‐5 years).

The key variables appear to form a coherent causal network. Implications for change management are drawn.     

TALKING ABOUT OUR TROUBLES: USING VIDEO-BASED DIALOGUE TO BUILD PRESERVICE TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

This study investigates the preservice teacher learning in the context of conversations about their field-based challenges. First, a review of the literature explores studies that highlight the role of evidence-based conversation as a mechanism to approach the inevitable problems faced by teachers in the classroom. The subsequent case study provides an analysis of how a group of preservice teachers approached a colleague's challenge through a structured conversation and used digital videotapes and artifacts to add specificity to their analysis. The study's implications suggest how constructive and critical conversations between prospective teachers can play an important role in their professional development.     

Playing for position: education policy,Physical Education and nationalism in Wales

This paper explores the connections between Physical Education, nationalism and citizenship in England and Wales focusing upon how education legislation, in particular the National Curriculum (NC) and Local Management of Schools (LMS), are implicated in the cultural production of ideational differences between and amongst the peoples of England and Wales. As our previous research has centred heavily on the making and implementation of education policy and PE in England, we take this opportunity to adjust our gaze and focus squarely on issues of cultural production in Wales, particularly relationships between the construction of images of Welsh identity and education policy and practice relating to PE and sport in schools. The analysis highlights that tendencies towards a narrow, conservative, cultural restoration are as evident in Wales as they are in England and obstruct progression towards more innovative and progressive ideals.     

Misconceptions about traumatic brain injury among students preparing to be special education professionals

The researchers performed a survey study to determine the effectiveness of collegiate programmes in dispelling common misconceptions about traumatic brain injury (TBI) while preparing undergraduate and graduate students for special education (SpEd) careers. Respondents included 136 undergraduate and 147 graduate SpEd students in their final semesters before obtaining degrees. Each completed an 18‐item true/false survey about TBI and the associated recovery process. Results were compared with survey responses from 318 lay public respondents who participated in a previous study. Two major findings emerged: (a) no significant differences existed in misconception endorsement between SpEd students completing Bachelor's versus Master's degrees; and (b) graduating students in SpEd teacher preparation programmes endorsed similar misconceptions as lay public respondents; hence, these programmes do not appear effective in dispelling common TBI misconceptions. Improving academic preparation for special educators regarding TBI is imperative for effectively identifying, assessing and serving student survivors.     

On Widening Participation in Higher Education Through Positive Discrimination

Notwithstanding an ongoing concern about the low representation of certain groups in higher education, there is reluctance on the part of politicians and policy makers to adopt positive discrimination as an appropriate means of widening participation. This article offers an account of the different objections to positive discrimination and, thereafter, clarifies and criticises the view that universities ought to select those applicants who are expected to be most successful as students. It distinguishes arguments from meritocracy, desert, respect, and productivity and shows how these arguments are compatible with the use of positive discrimination in higher education.