Introduction:
When School Reform Lasts
Creating the conditions for Long-Term Change
"As institutional microcosms of
some of society's most intransigent problems, schools have
become inherently unpredictable and almost impossibly complex
environments in which to solve problems by simply applying
textbook management techniques. The basic contradiction of
attempting to apply predetermined, standardized procedures
to what Sirotnik calls 'messy social systems in the process
of evolution' 1 should
not only be apparent—it should be virtually blinking in neon."
—Laraine K. Hong in Surviving School Reform2
 The
history of school reform is filled with examples of reformers who
underestimated the complexity of school culture and overestimated
the power of their innovations. Over and over, we've seen well–designed
and well–intentioned efforts fail because program designers
have attempted to inject a reform or an approach into a school
or district with little understanding of the "messy social
system" they are attempting to change.
That doesn't mean, however, that all reform efforts are destined to fail—or
that the only sustainable solutions must be generated from within schools or
districts. Many of the most effective reform strategies are the results of
collaborations between school–based educators and outside experts. Such
collaborations help researchers and developers build flexibility into their
programs, allowing room for local communities to adapt the programs to meet
their evolving needs. In addition, they help practitioners build the skills
and knowledge they need to continue the school improvement process long after
the outside consultants have moved on.
At EDC, we've learned through more than four decades of experience that our
ability to create educational improvements rests in large part on the depth
of our understanding of schools and school districts—the complex and ever–changing
environments that shape the daily experience of teachers, students, and administrators.
For this issue of Mosaic, we interviewed four leading EDC researchers about
the challenge of developing and sustaining school improvement initiatives.
Taken as a whole, their work raises questions about the traditional relationship
between local educators and outside consultants, while also reexamining some
of our basic assumptions about the process of reform and the meaning of sustainability.
In many ways, the stories here reveal a blurring of the lines
that separate researchers and practitioners. Just as researchers
need to push themselves toward a deeper understanding of schools
and school cultures, teachers and administrators need to become
researchers—continually assessing their own performance and
their progress toward sustained improvements in teaching and learning.
These pages offer perspectives from each of the researchers, focusing
on four key issues in school improvement: defining sustainability,
using data to guide decision–making, improving opportunities
for teacher learning, and creating partnerships to support local
change initiatives.
For questions or comments, contact mosaic@edc.org.
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Education Development Center, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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