Reforming Alone: Barriers to Organizational Learning in Urban School Change Initiatives

In this review we synthesize findings from 9 separate professional development initiatives conducted by the Philadelphia Education Fund in concert with the School District of Philadelphia with the aim of understanding why such initiatives achieve only partial implementation at the school level. We identify a cluster of policies and structures that have the effect of depleting or preventing the formation of social capital among staff in a school building. Evaluations from these initiatives show that entrenched policies and practices converge to prevent or break up the norms, networks, and social trust required for reforms to take root. Specifically, program implementation is often frustrated by the frequent turnover and lack of support from principals, the disruption of faculty teams, and union work rules that increase rates of teacher transfers and limit time for faculty to meet and work together. The solitary nature of teachers' work is reinforced through these practices--a phenomenon that inhibits the creation of a culture of reflection and renewal that is desperately needed in inner-city schools.