Organization\'s Experience With Change. It

¶ … organization's experience with change. It will give an example of a reform that was sustained and one that was not, and also explain possible reasons for these outcomes. Datnow's article discusses comprehensive school reform (CSR) as a model for reform, especially during turbulent decisions by districts and states, and it seems particularly applicable to my school district and change.

Probably one of the biggest ongoing reforms in my district has been the implementation of the "No Child Left Behind" Act. Many of the district personnel, including teachers and administrators have been extremely agitated over the reforms and changes necessary to implement and continue this act. Accountability is a major portion of this act, and many teachers have rebelled at the ways the district has looked at increasing accountability - especially the use of test scores as evaluations of a teacher's effectiveness in the classroom. Teachers have argued that testing special education students or ESL students at the same level as other students skews the results, and in fact, there have been cases of school districts around the country demanding changes in the Act in this and other areas. The Act is still controversial in the community and in the district, and implementing it has been an ongoing source of strife and discord. However, because it is mandatory, it has been implemented. As author Datnow notes, "the influence of changing state and district contexts on school reform longevity is of particular concern, given the increased state-level involvement in educational policy with respect to standards and accountability" (Datnow, 2005, p. 122), and this is certainly evident in my particular district. Chance is never easy or simple, and the changes implemented with this new legislation have been difficult to swallow for many administrators, staff, and teachers. However, it was implemented and it continues to run throughout the district. It may be contentious and controversial, but it was implemented and continues to be sustained in the classroom, in the curriculum, and by the district.

The author also speaks of sustainability of reform, and how most large-scale reforms do not stand the test of time. She notes that after several years of study, only a few schools were still implementing reforms they had implemented three years before (Datnow, 2005, p. 123). Thus, many reforms do not stand the test of time, and this is true for a variety of reasons. In some, the reforms simply prove not to be effective, or the school administration and staff prove to be so resistant that the changes simply cannot be effectively continued. Some reforms are effective, but prove to be too costly to maintain. Others simply never get off the ground because of lack of support from the district and from teachers, or from teachers who view the reforms as threatening to their careers and livelihoods. These reasons all depend entirely on the type of reform and how it is implemented, of course. In addition, the author found that reform was sustained longer and more effectively when there was political support throughout the district and the schools for the reform (Datnow, 2005, p. 124). This makes sense, and also points to another reason reforms are not sustained, they do not have the political support they need throughout the district and the schools.

This leads to another reform that was implemented in the district and was not sustained. Our district implemented a classroom learning reform that was similar to the Success for All model Datnow mentions in her article. It was a model for reforming how English is taught in the classroom, including how the children are involved in learning English and how the English and non-English speakers interact and work together. Several elementary schools implemented the program, and there was a district facilitator hired to monitor the progress of the program at the different schools. The goal of the program was to increase the literacy and participation of non-English speaking students by integrating them into the classrooms and integrating language study into the curriculum for both ESL and non-ESL students. A variety of classroom activities and materials were available to teachers to use in the classroom, and teachers had to report on how the integration of the materials worked. There were also various language tests that were administered throughout the years as the program developed and more students were available to study and see the results of the program. The program was successful in several areas. It helped promote understanding in the classroom between non-English speaking students and English speaking students. Part of the curriculum included the study of other cultures, such as Asian and Hispanic, which also helped foster more understanding between the students. However, when the test results came back after several years of the program's implementation, they did not show a substantial change in the literacy and comprehension of the non-English speaking students who had been in the program and those who had not. Eventually, after several years, the program, and the district facilitator position were both dropped.