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

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