The Dilemmas of Educational Reform

Item

Title

The Dilemmas of Educational Reform

Abstract/Description

The environment of U.S. schools has changed dramatically over a quarter century as standards tied to test-based accountability and market competition became commonplace. We examine the issues that school systems face in this changing environment, to identify considerations for researchers interested in reform as educational system building. We highlight a central dilemma: Systems manage environmental pressures to become more coherent enterprises that focus on tested outcomes while managing the inherited differentiated organizations and environmental pressures which support these enterprises. We identify four activity domains that are defined by these competing pressure: consensus on outcomes; infrastructure to connect outcomes with instruction; recruitment that is aligned with outcomes; and competing environmental pressures.

Author/creator

Cohen, David K.

Spillane, James P.

See all items with this valuePeurach, Donald J.

Date

2017

In publication

Educational Researcher

Volume

47

Issue

3

Pages

204–212

Background/context type

en Conceptual

en Historical

Keywords

educational reform

networking

policy

policy analysis

teacher education/development

IRE Approach/Concept

Education Reform

Policy

Infrastructure

Peer reviewed

en Yes

Language

English

DOI

10.3102/0013189X17743488

URL

Publisher Webpage

Citation

Cohen, D. K., Spillane, J. P., & Peurach, D. J. (2018). The Dilemmas of Educational Reform. Educational Researcher, 47(3), 204–212. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17743488

Cited in

Critical Perspectives on the Contexts of Improvement Research in Education

Critical Perspectives on Educational Innovation and Improvement Science

Item sets

Oxford Bibliographies [Special Series]: Continuous Improvement in Education

OB Citations - Critical Perspectives on Educational Innovation and Improvement Science

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