Reconsidering replication: New perspectives on large-scale school improvement

Abstract

The purpose of this analysis is to reconsider organizational replication as a strategy for large-scale school improvement: a strategy that features a “hub” organization collaborating with “outlet” schools to enact school-wide designs for improvement. To do so, we synthesize a leading line of research on commercial replication to construct a “knowledge-based logic” focused on the production, use, improvement, and retention of effective practices in large numbers of schools. Drawing on findings from a longitudinal case study, we then use the knowledge-based logic to structure an interpretation of Success for All, a leading comprehensive school reform program. In contrast to common assumptions of organizational replication as a strategy that yields rapid results at the expense of local and professional control, we argue that organizational replication can be understood as a long-term enterprise in which program providers and schools collaborate to produce, use, improve, and retain practical knowledge. Capitalizing on this potential, however, is contingent on both proponents and critics re-examining common assumptions about organizational replication and recognizing value in replication enterprises that they would otherwise miss.