Educational change

An address delivered before the Alumni Association of Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., August 9th, 1865.

The purpose of this study was to determine through
statistical analysis of a survey instrument the extent to
which the 67 public school district superintendents in the
state of Florida perceive the major areas of educational
reform as falling into the same categories as does David
T. Kearns, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Xerox
Corporation, author of "An Education Recovery Plan for
America" in Winning the Brain Race: A Bold Plan to Make
Our Schools Competitive. Factor analysis was used to group the 36 specific
recommendations into their "natural" groupings as
perceived by the responding superintendents. This
technique revealed that the natural psychological
groupings in the eyes of the respondents were not the same
as Kearns asserted. The study shows that the reform
hierarchy, based on the perceptions of the
superintendents, is actually three layers deep with
Kearns' six categories being broken down into a bottom
tier of 14 discrete areas.

Charter schools have often boasted about differentiating themselves in the educational
marketplace. With today’s growing emphasis on student achievement, whether this
differentiation has had a positive effect on student learning is still debatable. The purpose
of this exploratory mixed-methods study was to establish if innovation is a reported
practice in charter schools in Miami-Dade and Sarasota Counties in Florida and to
determine if a relationship exists between innovation reporting and student achievement
as measured by Florida school grades. A qualitative analysis of School Improvement
Plans and school websites for a 62 school sample was utilized. As well as a quantitative
measure of the correlation between level of reported innovation in eight categories
(organizational structure, ideology and culture, leadership models, professional
development for teachers, curriculum, technology, parent involvement, and other) and
student achievement, as measured by Florida’s school grade formula. The study found
that charter schools in both counties reported innovation at high levels with only three schools reporting innovations in fewer than five categories of innovation. An examination
of opposing forces of loose and rigid structure, autonomy and policy control, as well as
creativity and standardization led to findings of less reported instances of innovation on
average in schools with looser structure, autonomy, and creativity. Furthermore, Title I
schools and high minority student population schools (≥50%) showed signs of innovation
saturation, with no value added to student achievement (school grade averages) by
reported innovation beyond a moderate level. Still, reported innovation level (overall
categories of innovation) and student achievement (school grade averages) showed a
negligible relationship (r = -.062). In conclusion, reported innovation existed in charter
schools despite opposing forces, but was often similar across charter schools. In fact,
past a moderate level of innovation, there was no value added to school grades for Title I
and high minority charter schools. Yet, a weak, negative relationship existed between
specific reported innovations in combination (professional development in pedagogy,
tutoring programs, non-district behavior programs and incentive, and multiple levels) and
student achievement (school grade averages) which can inform us on the nature of
reporting.

Globalization, the integration of markets and the shrinking of boundaries both
figurative and real, provides the context in which institutions of higher education have
considered a change to their culture, curricula, and composition in recent years.
Increasingly, the response ofunjversities to globalization is to bring a greater
international dimension to their teaching, research, and service; a process known as
internationalization.
The purpose of this study was to identify the change strategies that allowed three
regional public universities to internationalize their campuses. The qualitative multi-site
research design incorporated a critical case strategy with participants who led, facilitated,
and/or implemented the change process. Data collection was obtained through interviews,
documents, and direct observation. The analysis consisted of pattern matching facilitated
by two-dimensional matrices. Leading change in higher education has been related to moving cemeteries and
herding cats and therefore may seem like a cruel hoax; but as this study reports it need
not be so. The study found that a highly integrated, non-linear change process Jed to
successful internationalization. An expanding number of champions who constantly
communicated a motivating vision and who opportunistically pursued creative strategies
to internationalize resulted in cascading layers of buy-in throughout the university. This
buy-in was not only an effect, but a change strategy in its own right; and was a primary
focus of those leading the change effort. These universities institutionalized change
through various structural and programmatic means. The change process concluded with
a transformed institution that incorporated an international dimension into the culture,
life, and work of the university.
The findings were compared and contrasted to Kotter's ( 1996) eight stages of
leading change and Eckel and Kezar's (2003) model for transformation in higher
education. Neither fully explained this study's cross-case findings, and a new model for
leading transformational change in institutions of higher education was proposed; one
which builds on the strengths of Kotter's and Eckel and Kezar's models, but which
addresses their limitations as well.

This qualitative study examined the role expectations of participants on School Advisory Councils (SACs). Selected teachers, principals, parents, and community members were interviewed, SAC meetings observed, and SAC documents analyzed in an investigation into the roles of the SAC and SACs' impact on school reform. Data was transcribed, coded, triangulated, and analyzed to understand the views of SAC members. The study resulted in nine major findings: (a) State and local policies are unclear about the actual role of SAC, (b) past histories and current contexts shaped participation in SAC, (c) involvement in SAC was a result of personal motivation, (d) availability of information was an important reason for participation in SAC, (e) SAC participation brought the opportunity to have a voice and vote, (f) reform of curriculum, instruction, and assessment was not addressed by SAC, (g) SAC serves mainly as support, (h) the accomplishments of SAC are elusive, and (i) principals and chairs of SAC have the clearest view of the role of the SAC. The study concludes that SAC makes no significant impact on school reform, that connections between SAC and school reform are difficult to identify and recommends further research, a lessening of emphasis on high-risk, state-mandated assessments; and a change in state law to clarify the role of SAC.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distribution of leadership and its effectiveness in an elementary school setting. This investigation viewed distribution as a horizontal continuous process, rather than a hierarchical process with administrators, teachers and support staff each demonstrating varying degrees of involvement in leadership activities according to roles, situations, leadership styles and organizational relationships. This study was anchored in a democratic, distributed perspective using the work of Jack Gibb, Richard E. Elmore, Peter Gronn, and James Spillane as its foundation. The design of this study involved the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative path involved data collection through surveys and existing documents. The qualitative data collection involved interviews and observations. In order to maximize the probability for identifying the dynamics and effects of distributed leadership in elementary schools, the settings for this study included schools engaged in a guidance grant model in both Broward County and Pasco County Public School Districts in Florida, which, on the surface, appeared to have distributed leadership components already in practice. The sample for this study included six Florida elementary schools, three located in Broward County and three in Pasco County. Four of these schools, two from Broward County and two from Pasco County, had been implementing the guidance reform effort. The two remaining schools, one in Broward County and one in Pasco County, demonstrated similar demographics and closely matched socioeconomic status of the grant schools, but were outside the guidance grant program. The population used in this sampling included principals, assistant principals, teachers, titled teacher leaders, school counselors and support staff. The findings of this study confirmed the theories of Gibb, Elmore, Gronn, and Spillane through the development of the Distributed Leadership Cycle. Distributed leadership is the key to effective collaboration that will positively impact the quality of teaching and learning, thus impacting student achievement. It is this integrative, relational model of distribution that will propel schools forward. Distributed leadership is the theoretical lens through which leadership practice in school can be reconfigured and re-conceptualized for the 21st century.

This single site qualitative case study of a large high school was conducted during the course of one school year. The study focused on how secondary level teachers of the four core content areas, language arts, science, social studies and mathematics, responded to a program of whole school change. In addition to teachers, the administration and support staff were interviewed. The primary sources of data were the results of one hour interviews, document analysis and researcher non-participant observations. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand teachers' various responses to a program of whole school change. The major concepts underlying the study were the meaning of change, the need for schools to change, the change process, the role of people involved in the change process and the proliferation of various programs of whole school change. The research findings highlighted the importance of: recognizing only one whole school change initiative as the primary focus, being knowledgeable of the whole school change initiative, constantly working on personalizing the school's vision, facing external and internal change forces, handling challenges and dealing with the rate of change. The conclusions of the study are that from attempted implementation of multiple school change initiatives perhaps only one change initiative will rise to prominence, teacher involvement and buy-in are important components of successful whole school change, educators face both internal and external factors while implementing whole school change and the principal plays a crucial role in successful whole school change.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dilemmas of planning and implementing whole-school reform in a middle school from the perception of administrators, teachers and parents. A qualitative case study approach was used. Data collection included interviews, observations, and document analysis. Interviews with 28 participants were divided into three consecutive sessions conducted from the bottom up in terms of the hierarchy of power in the organization. Data were transcribed, coded, triangulated, and analyzed to understand the views of participants. The study resulted in three major findings: (a) The principal enhanced the learning organization's capacity for whole-school reform by balancing tensions and conflicts; (b) Implementing a high-stakes testing regime and reform design simultaneously contributed to teacher overload, and reduced the capacity of teachers to implement whole-school reform; and, (c) Learning communities had a pivotal role in fostering collaboration for whole-school reform. The study concluded that: (a) Principal leadership is vital to successful whole-school reform implementation; (b) The crucial challenge of principals in whole-school reform is forging a network of strong relationships within and across staff work teams and the community through the development of learning communities and professional development; and, (c) Whole-school reform must be balanced with and adapted to accountability system if it is to have a chance of succeeding.

This study described, analyzed, and compared the internal and external factors that prevented or fostered the implementation of a cognitive tool, GeoGebra, in the mathematics practices of 12 middle school teachers who had completed a master's degree program in mathematics successfully. Through the application of a case study approach as a systematic method for the analysis of qualitative data, and under a social constructivist framework, the study examined different factors such as concerns of teachers; their beliefs about technology, mathematics as a subject, math teaching, and learning; external factors such as resources and school support; their TPACK development; and their instrumental orchestration approach through classroom observations. Among the major findings, the study revealed that the personal concerns of the teacher users of GeoGebra included the desire to continue learning the new features of the software, as well as the desire to connect themselves with others in common endeavors for the benefit of other teachers and, ultimately, the students... There was a consensus among the teacher users that they had to strike a balance between their professional goals and the available resources.

The purpose of this study was to discover how ethnicity, gender, and mentoring influenced the career experiences of Jamaican administrators in Sunshine County Public Schools (SCPS), a pseudonym that was used for a large public school district in Florida. This qualitative, phenomenological study focused on the career experiences of eight Jamaican administrators in SCPS. Seven of the participants were all native-born Jamaicans and one was a first generation Jamaican, born in England to Jamaican parents and raised in Jamaica until the age of 14. The researcher gained this understanding by interviewing participants in-depth about how their Jamaican ethnicity, gender, and personal mentoring experiences impacted their personal and professional journey as administrators in SCPS. Findings and conclusions will inform mentoring and educational leadership literature on strategies for success geared toward this understudied population.