ERIC Number: ED343215
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Putting the Pieces Together: Systemic School Reform. CPRE Policy Briefs.
Consortium for Policy Research in Education, New Brunswick, NJ.
This issue summarizes Marshall S. Smith and Jennifer O'Day's "Systemic School Reform," an analytic essay discussing research into the effectiveness of current education policies and policy system development in numerous states. The essay proposes a design for a systemic state structure that supports school-site improvement efforts and is based on clear, challenging standards for student learning. Policy components would be tied to these standards and reinforce one another in providing instructional guidance to schools and teachers. This brief begins with several observations concerning policy, examines current barriers to school improvement, and sketches an ameliorative strategy. School-by-school restructuring efforts are unlikely to produce substantial change. Educational success is hard to generalize because our educational system lacks coherence, and a basic skills emphasis pervades both policy and practice. Change is hampered by fragmented authority structures, conflicting goals and policies, and deficiencies in college teaching, professional development, and curriculum. A strategy for systemic reform would combine both top-down and bottom-up approaches and feature a unifying vision and goals, a coherent instructional guidance system, and a restructured governance system. A sidebar examines teacher professionalism and educational equity issues. (31 references) (MLH)
Descriptors: Basic Skills, Book Reviews, Change Strategies, Curriculum Development, Educational Change, Educational Equity (Finance), Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education, Instructional Improvement, Resistance to Change, School Based Management, School Restructuring, Standards, Success
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Consortium for Policy Research in Education, New Brunswick, NJ.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A