You Can Get There From Here: Using a Theory of Change Approach to Plan Urban Education Reform

This article presents a theory of change approach to planning educational reform initiatives with a focus on district level efforts. Using examples from ongoing consulting work with urban school districts, we walk through steps in a planning process that can yield a theory of change that meets 4 criteria: plausible, doable, testable, and meaningful. The benefits of this planning approach for evaluation and implementation of district level educational reform are also discussed. We conclude with implications of this approach for educational and psychological consultants working with educational reform initiatives. Every urban school district in America has had some form of district-wide reform plan, and most have had multiple plans over the past decade. In light of this extraordinary effort by many talented people, why do we not see more examples of meaningful, district-wide improvement in student performance? First and foremost, because it is really hard to do. The inherent complexity of system change, the cyclical nature of public attention to urban education, and the divisive factors of race and class that plague local and national consideration of urban issues make planning and implementing meaningful change in urban schools an awesome challenge. In our work as consultants to urban education reform initiatives, we have found the “theory of change ” approach 1 (Connell & Kubisch, 1998) to Correspondence should be addressed to James P.