Case Studies of Promising Change Schools

A series of three case studies were conducted over the course of one year in schools deemed promising in respect to education reform initiatives. The schools were studied to ascertain the nature and extent of change that had occurred and how successfully various constituency groups were handling the change. Areas probed in case study interviews, classroom observations, and document review included the planned change process itself, quality of schooling indicators, family support, assessment, curriculum, instruction, and staff development. Findings indicate that positive change was occurring along anticipated dimensions of quality schooling indicators while curriculum and instructional reform lagged behind. The researchers concluded that structural change in these schools has not yet catalyzed systemic reform at the level of the classroom where student learning would be most affected in spite of powerful leadership by principals and a staff committed to reform principles. While all three of these schools exhibited many exemplary practices and promising directions, evidence of depth in reform practices as measured by enhanced student learning was lacking.