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our last issue of Connections,
we read about two K-5 schools involved in comprehensive school reform
(CSR)—Sierra Vista and Sunrise. Each school had adopted the
same national reform model as part of its efforts.
As you may recall, the two schools are fictionalized—each
drawn from several case studies of schools involved in school reform.
However, none of the case study schools were involved in the Comprehensive
School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program.
As a recap, Sierra Vista had district office support and was led
by an enthusiastic, forward-thinking principal, Suzanne Martinez,
who had been working with her staff for several years to create
a collaborative, collegial culture with a focus on student learning.
The Sierra Vista staff was well on its way to becoming a professional
learning community and believed real progress was being made in
student achievement, even though standardized test scores had not
risen dramatically.
Sunrise Elementary had undergone a series of school and district
leadership changes that made carrying out a reform effort difficult.
Many Sunrise staff members had been at the school for 15-20 years,
and believed the school had been losing ground in recent years—they
no longer felt there was a vision driving the school and many teachers
thought the new principal, Carolyn Smith, sought input from only
certain groups of teachers. Staff members felt overwhelmed and were
disappointed that student test scores had not changed during the
reform effort. Sunrise decided to abandon its reform program and
concentrate on "teaching to the test"—the current
superintendent’s preferred method of increasing scores.
In the last issue, we provided an overview of the six strategies
a facilitative leader may take that can help ensure a school’s
success in implementing school reform (see "Six Strategies
for Change," left). The strategies—first described in
1992 by researcher Shirley Hord on the basis of her work and that
of her colleagues–focus on eliminating the barriers that can
hinder school reform and success. The last issue examined the first
three strategies listed and discussed how these played out at Sierra
Vista and Sunrise elementary schools. In this issue, we are going
to review the remaining strategies and discuss the Sierra Vista
and Sunrise situations with regard to
- investing in professional development,
- monitoring and checking
- progress, and continuing to give assistance.
As in the last issue, we focus on Sierra Vista’s success and
Sunrise’s challenges in implementing these strategies.
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