Why Reform Sometimes Succeeds: Understanding the Conditions That Produce Reforms That Last

Item

Title: Why Reform Sometimes Succeeds: Understanding the Conditions That Produce Reforms That Last
Abstract/Description: Counter to narratives of persistently failed school reform, we argue that reforms sometimes succeed and seek to understand why. Drawing on examples from the founding of public schools to the present, we find that successful system-wide reforms addressed problems that teachers thought they had by being consistent with prevailing norms and values, mobilizing a significant public constituency, and building the needed educational infrastructure. We distinguish between system-wide and niche reforms, suggesting that some—particularly those seeking ambitious instruction—failed system-wide but succeeded by creating protected educational niches. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for the Common Core.
Author/creator: Cohen, David K.; Mehta, Jal D.
Date: 2017
In publication: American Educational Research Journal
Volume: 54
Issue: 4
Pages: 644-690
Resource type: en Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form: en Published Text
Scholarship genre: en Theoretical
Language: en
Open access/full-text available: en Yes
Peer reviewed: en Yes
ISSN: 0002-8312
DOI: 10.3102/0002831217700078
URL: Official Publisher's Webpage (SAGE Journals); Full-text PDF Shared by Author (ResearchGate)
Citation: Cohen, D. K., & Mehta, J. D. (2017). Why Reform Sometimes Succeeds: Understanding the Conditions That Produce Reforms That Last. American Educational Research Journal, 54(4), 644–690. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217700078
Cited in: Democratizing Educational Innovation and Improvement: The Policy Contexts of Improvement Research in Education; Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Improvement

Item sets: Handbook Chapter 10 Citations; OB Citations - Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Improvement

Annotations

There are no annotations for this resource.