School Reform Model Research Articles

School–university partnership for school renewal: reflections on three large, federally funded projects

PurposeIn this manuscript, we aimed to (1) illustrate the differences in school–university partnership under the school reform and renewal models and (2) describe the practice of and learning about school–university partnership by reflecting on the three large, federally funded projects, all conducted under the school renewal model.Design/methodology/approachWe used archival data from the three large, federally funded projects, synthesized our research related to school–university partnerships and developed themes for actions and learnings related to the topic of school–university partnerships.FindingsThe school–university partnerships under the school renewal model are different from that under the school reform model. School–university partnership under the school renewal model is associated with positive results for schools and the university. There are clear themes for the actions and learning in the school–university partnership under the school renewal model.Originality/valueIt is original to study school–university partnerships in the context of the school renewal model.

Pathways to progress? – collective conscientisation and progressive school reform in Aboriginal education

ABSTRACT Setting in train various forms of curriculum and pedagogic change in schools whilst seeking to improve both teaching strategies and Aboriginal educational outcomes in Australia is a complex business. This involves a sustained effort to equip the next generation of educators with the skills and knowledges to identify, diagnose, and devise remedies for the ‘problems’ that are sometimes ascribed to Aboriginal learners. The work of Paolo Freire is a point of reference here. However, the halo around Freire and his work may occlude thinking about how to evoke his concepts, (specifically conscientisation) in the contemporary Australian context. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Freire’s work in this light. We also discuss the Culturally Nourishing Schooling (CNS) project, a whole school reform model where teachers are encouraged to shift their reflective gaze onto themselves and on the settings in which they work. We argue that for ‘success’ in education to no longer be defined by deficit thinking, firstly, conscientisation must be a collective process. To change teachers and their practice and schooling requires a different conception of both change and of conscientisation.

초등체육 국가교육과정 도입에 관한 미 교사들의 인식

Grounded in the theoretical model of systemic school reform (SR), the purpose of this investigation was to examine teachers’ perceptions on a unified national curriculum for elementary physical education (PE) in the United States (US). In total, 15 elementary PE teachers (female=8, male=7) were purposefully selected to participate in formal interviews. The interview data inductively analyzed were reinterpreted and tested based on the SR model. The themes that emerged indicated a nationwide curriculum has the potential to help students enhance fundamental motor skills and basic movements by unifying primary components of education. However, it would not function well in the US in which constitutional power is shared among national, state, and local governments. The longstanding tradition of polyphonic federalism would prompt greater policy variability among elementary PE programs in attempts to minimize these differences. Curriculum reform for elementary PE must occur through careful revisions for the current model of standards-based learning, but not total standardization for curricula.

Perceptions of the role of the principal in promoting collaborative leadership in magnet schools in the United States

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore the role of school leaders in magnet schools, a particular school reform model in the United States. To do this, we review the literature on magnet schools, and cite results from a study based on semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with participants affiliated with magnet schools who received federal funding to implement magnet programmes. Building on the theoretical model of collaborative school leadership, we find that magnet school personnel felt their schools were most functional when magnet principals (1) showed trust in and respect for their faculty and students, (2) created a functional team atmosphere with effective coordination between administration, magnet resource teachers and general faculty, (3) supported and demonstrated investment in the magnet theme, and (4) promoted their faculty members’ leadership potential.

Montessori as a School Reform Alternative Reflecting Biblical Anthropology

Today’s education has three impediments to meaningful and sustainable educational reform; first, the lack of precise and accurate anthropology of learners; second, dilemma between constructivism-leading academy and behaviorism-dominating classrooms; third, the lack of philosophy of education in theory and practice. The Montessori system was built upon the Christian theological anthropology, which uncovers that the main source of failure in our education is humanity’s original sin and sins preventing us from fulfilling the Imago Dei or the reciprocating self. This article highlights why the Montessori method is a feasible school reform model by briefly examining Montessori’s anthropology centering on Imago Dei, teacher’s respect for the child resulting in education through being and embodiment, and systematized teacher-training system.

Does early childhood education enhance parental school involvement in second grade?: Evidence from Midwest Child-Parent Center Program

This paper examines the impact on parent involvement in second grade in the Midwest Child-Parent Centers (MCPC), a high-quality preschool-to-third-grade school reform model. A new focus of research on early childhood programs is understanding how early childhood learning gains can be sustained. Two-generation programs that provide diverse family services may be one approach. The MCPC expansion was implemented for a cohort of over 2000 Chicago and Saint Paul students beginning in preschool. Based on a comparison of the program and usual-service comparison groups matched at the school level via propensity scores, ratings were obtained for a subset of the sample by teachers and parents on parent involvement in school in second grade. After accounting for potential attrition bias via multiple imputation and propensity score weighting, results indicated that MCPC participation was associated with significantly higher parent involvement in school at the end of second grade both in the aggregate sample (Effect Size = 0.19 SD) and in Chicago (ES = 0.24). Differences in Saint Paul, however, were small (ES = 0.15) and not statistically significant. Robustness testing using different model specifications revealed similar results. Implications for assessing and sustaining early childhood learning gains are discussed with a focus on recognizing that parental involvement is an integral component of high-quality programs.

Postsecondary Outcomes of Innovative High Schools: The Big Picture Longitudinal Study

ContextEducational reform efforts have taken the form of different school models intended to reduce educational inequality. Personalized, interest-based schools and academically focused, “No Excuses” schools are two leading small-school designs with sharply contrasting approaches to innovation. Given mixed research findings about the successes and challenges of school reform models in the United States, it is imperative to understand how educational outcomes of students relate to the philosophy and distinguishing characteristics of particular school models such as these. At the same time, evaluating social mobility effects of high school education across educational reform models requires examination of common metrics such as high school graduation rate and college entrance and degree attainment.PurposeThis study sought to establish whether and how a personalized, interest-based secondary school reform model is associated with graduates’ characteristics and postsecondary outcomes—and to place these findings in relation to student outcomes reported by a leading No Excuses school network.SettingBig Picture Learning is a network of innovative small schools that serves primarily low-income and minoritized students through an individualized, relational, real-world-based high school experience. The Big Picture educational model features individualized learning plans connected to extensive internships, independent learning organized around student interests, authentic assessments, and close, informal relationships between students and adults.Research DesignThe Big Picture Longitudinal Study tracked 1900 graduates from six graduating high school classes. Data sources included student and school advisor surveys, National Student Clearinghouse college enrollment data, and interviews with graduates’ former advisors. Published outcomes data for KIPP No Excuses schools provided comparative information. Analyses comprised descriptive statistics of survey data and multivariate regression analyses connecting high school exit data to college outcomes.FindingsThe Big Picture Learning model is extremely successful in meeting its stated goals of fostering positive relationships, helping students discover and pursue their interests, and promoting high school graduation and college entrance. Results for academic subject achievement and college persistence are mixed, however. Big Picture graduates have similar college matriculation rates but somewhat lower six-year graduation rates than alumni from the KIPP No Excuses school network. Alumni from both networks show high rates of college attrition.ConclusionWhen taken alone and in context of other innovative school models, the Big Picture results point to the difficulty of sustaining secondary school gains in the post-high school lives of low-income students and highlight shortcomings of traditional colleges in serving this population.

The role of teachers in educational reform: A 20-year perspective

Teachers’ professional lives and their role in change efforts have always been central to the Journal of Educational Change. Articles have addressed teachers’ motivation for and commitment to reform, their belief systems, their professionalism, their networks, and their professional development, among other topics. Unequivocally, teachers are central to educational change. In this article, I will reflect upon my own work over the past 20 + years as a lens through which to examine this topic, and drawing out implications for research, policy, and practice. The common threads across this work include issues of agency, power, and social justice that have influenced the role of teachers in various waves of reform. I discuss teacher agency in reforms ranging from bottom-up change efforts to externally developed comprehensive school reform models and those that rely on teacher collaboration and participation as research partners.

Community Schools as an Urban School Reform Strategy: Examining Partnerships, Governance, and Sustainability Through the Lens of the Full-Service Community Schools Grant Program

The community school concept has become a popular school reform model that has gained traction in urban school systems. To date, however, few studies have looked across contexts to see how various communities are conceptualizing the reform: the aims that are articulated, the partnerships that are being created, or sustainability plans. In this study, we explore these questions through an analysis of 32 funded proposals from the federal Full-Service Community Schools grant program. We examine the goals, aims, and plans of reformers and ask questions about governance, inclusion, and sustainability, situating our analysis in the policy implementation literature.

Achievement of Students With IEPs and Associated Relationships With an Inclusive MTSS Framework

The present study investigated the effectiveness of an equity-based inclusive school reform model nested within a multitiered system of support (MTSS) framework on the improvement of math and reading performance of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Descriptive statistics revealed that math state assessment scores of students with IEPs increased over the implementation period. Results of multilevel modeling demonstrated that the model’s fidelity of implementation scores positively and significantly predicted state assessment math scores. A further analysis examining the effectiveness of the model in three schools that implemented with adequate fidelity compared with nonimplementing schools indicated students with IEPs in implementing schools increased their math scores at a greater rate than their peers in comparison schools; however, effects on reading scores were equivocal. Findings are discussed in the context of inclusion and efforts to support high fidelity implementation of MTSS.

Increasing community engagement in collective impact approaches to advance social change

ABSTRACTThe Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is a large urban school district in Oakland, California where hunger and poor nutrition are prevalent. Given the critical link between nutrition and academic achievement, OUSD pursued a collective impact approach to school food reform called Rethinking School Lunch Oakland (RSLO) as part of OUSD’s community development model of school reform, with the Center for Ecoliteracy and philanthropy. RSLO required repurposing land among other major system shifts. This case study describes RSLO’s implementation, the engagement through expanded public processes, and how OUSD’s legal identity prevented shared decision-making over land use – one of the most important issues for community given past land use and current neighborhood change. This case study illustrates how past application of law and a government collaborator’s legal identity, structure, and relationship to other government entities and community will shape engagement and the Collective Impact (CI) approach.

Dimensionality and Predictive validity of the Classroom Learning Activities Checklist in Prekindergarten

The Classroom Learning Activities Checklist (CLAC) is a brief classroom observation measure that assesses task-oriented and self-regulated learning in early childhood environments. We assessed the tool’s dimensionality and validity in predicting prekindergarten (PreK) learning gains. The study sample is from the Midwest Child-Parent Center (MCPC) program, an evidence-based PreK–3rd grade school reform model providing comprehensive educational and family support services. Data from 1358 enrolled students in 72 observed classrooms indicated that a 2-factor model—instructional responsiveness and student engagement—explained 50% of the variance in item scores. Evidence for construct validity was strong. Linear and probit regression analyses indicated that CLAC scores independently predicted learning gains in literacy (ES = .34 SD) and math (ES = .30 SD) on the Teaching Strategies Gold Assessment System, a standardized performance assessment. Findings support the validity of the CLAC in assessing the classroom learning environment. Implications for program monitoring, evaluation, and professional development are discussed.

QUESTIONING THE RHETORIC OF BRITISH BORSTAL REFORM IN THE 1930s

AbstractIn 1938, the Reverend Digby Bliss Kittermaster, who became chaplain at Rochester Borstal after retiring as a housemaster at Harrow public school, started a diary in which he recorded everyday interactions with inmates and staff. The reputation of the borstal system was at its height in the 1930s owing to Alexander Paterson's reforms, based on the structures and character-building ethos of British public schools. Young people's voices were rarely heard in this progressive discourse of borstal reform and Kittermaster is unusual for articulating them, recording what he heard, teasing out the contradictions of Paterson's reforming aspirations and the reality of humiliation and intimidation that borstal boys often experienced. Kittermaster's public school background made him well placed to question the rhetoric of the public school reform model. His complex personal perspective suggests how humane emphasis on individual potential was subverted at Rochester by coercive structures of traditional prison improvement. Kittermaster's growing frustration at his own powerlessness supports a more nuanced interpretation of how the borstal system has usually been depicted in the Paterson era of reform, especially in relation to damaging mental and emotional costs to inmates and staff, which have been largely neglected in the scholarship of borstal in the 1930s.

The Impact of PBL as a STEM School Reform Model

The Impact of PBL as a STEM School Reform Model

Can the use of informal control mechanisms increase trust among teachers? An evaluation of the Accelerated Schools intervention

The Accelerated Schools Program (ASP) mobilizes a cohesive set of informal control mechanisms as a part of its approach to school-wide improvement. However, despite their frequent use in educational settings, the empirical investigation of the nature and function of organizational controls in building trust in schools has been largely overlooked in the educational literature, particularly from within a causal research framework. This study employed a propensity score matching approach to data from the Study of Instructional Improvement, a longitudinal study of the design, implementation, and instructional effectiveness of three widely-adopted comprehensive school reform models including Accelerated Schools. This quasi-experimental approach permitted the isolation of ASP’s effect on growth in teacher-teacher relational trust over time while controlling for implementation depth across the 54 schools and 1561 teachers in the sample. Analysis revealed a robust treatment effect of the ASP model on growth in teacher-teacher relational trust over time. Several components of the informal control process also produced positive change in teacher-teacher trust growth over time, including critical dialogue, innovation and risk-taking, and collective responsibility.

Getting the Maximum From the Minimum: An Adaptive System for Scaling School Reform

ABSTRACT This article presents findings from a study of the minimum conditions needed to scale a previously successful model of high school reform in New York City. Most studies of scale work backward to identify conditions that were in place when scale was successful, rather than identifying those that were minimally required, and thus more likely to be achievable across settings. Findings from this study suggest that only three minimum conditions are needed for scale – adequate knowledge of the model; an appropriate environment; and a working feedback loop – when these conditions interact in a functioning, self-adjusting ecosystem.

Mejora escolar, liderazgo y reforma sistémica: una retrospectiva (School improvement, leadership and systemic reform: a retrospective)

Mejora escolar, liderazgo y reforma sistémica: una retrospectiva (School improvement, leadership and systemic reform: a retrospective)

Das Kind Mit Dem Bade Ausschütten? U.S. Federal School Reform in Early 21ST Century

Grounded in analysis of specific features of the federal school reform undertaken in the U.S. in early 21st century, this article demonstrates that the U.S. government attempted to reduce the number of students lagging behind and thus to increase students’ average performance by means of stimulating them to transfer from underperforming to better schools, including from public schools to schools of other types, which offer higher quality of teaching. The article distinguishes three stages of the reform. On the first stage, in late 20th century, new types of schools emerged in the U.S.: in addition to pre-existent public, private and religious schools, as well as home schooling, magnet schools emerged in 1970s, and charter schools emerged in 1990s. On the second stage, during George W. Bush Administration, U.S. government assumed the powers to stimulate transfer of students from underperforming public schools to charter schools, and to stimulate increase in the number of charter schools. On the third stage, during Barack Obama Administration and the first year of Donald Trump Administration, U.S. government faced the impossibility to significantly increase the number of charter schools, to stimulate mass transfer of students from public schools to charter schools, and to significantly improve average students’ performance over short time. Even if U.S. government assumes the powers to stimulate transfer of students also to private schools, as Donald Trump Administration proposed, it will hardly have a positive effect in the short run. The article concludes that the model of school reform applied in the U.S. cannot solve the puzzle, because it concentrates available resources around elite schools, while most students lagging behind concentrate around traditional public schools.

Turnaround Success: An Exploratory Study of Three Middle Grades Schools that Achieved Positive Contextual and Achievement Outcomes Using the Schools to Watch i3 Project

This article presents the results of a study examining the highest implementers of the Schools to Watch (STW): School Transformation Network Project, and the impact the project had on their teaching/learning practices and outcomes. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program and was designed to improve the educational practices, experiences, and outcomes of 18 low-performing middle grades schools in California, Illinois, and North Carolina by offering a whole school reform model with a multilayered system of support. The framework for the project was the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform’s STW criteria, a set of strategies and practices for middle grades schools. The data presented were collected as part of the project’s evaluation which used a quasi-experimental design. Data are from the Forum’s STW Rubric and the Center for Prevention Research and Development’s (CPRD) Self-Study Teacher Survey from project schools, as well as student achievement test scores from project and comparison schools. The findings showed that the highest implemented STW Project schools achieved higher levels of implementation of the STW criteria, teacher collaboration, leadership practices, and best middle grades instructional practices, and showed significant improvement in mathematics achievement.

Scaling and Sustaining Effective Early Childhood Programs Through School-Family-University Collaboration.

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive preschool to third grade prevention program for the goals of sustaining services at a large scale. The Midwest Child–Parent Center (CPC) Expansion is a multilevel collaborative school reform model designed to improve school achievement and parental involvement from ages 3 to 9. By increasing the dosage, coordination, and comprehensiveness of services, the program is expected to enhance the transition to school and promote more enduring effects on well‐being in multiple domains. We review and evaluate evidence from two longitudinal studies (Midwest CPC, 2012 to present; Chicago Longitudinal Study, 1983 to present) and four implementation examples of how the guiding principles of shared ownership, committed resources, and progress monitoring for improvement can promote effectiveness. The implementation system of partners and further expansion using “Pay for Success” financing shows the feasibility of scaling the program while continuing to improve effectiveness.