Although educational leaders may be optimistic about initiating change, lasting reforms are rare. The group polarization literature, although dated, provides an important explanation for a very current problem. The theory holds that when there are differences of opinion to begin with, a counter-conformity effect works among members of groups. Rather than descending upon some group consensus, individuals and factions within the larger group become more divided with time. Such "group polarization" works against maintaining the critical mass that any reform requires and offers at least one explanation for why educational reforms at the local level fail.