The staff at Sunrise Elementary has a history of being congenial. Many of the staff members have been at this school for 15-20 years. Groups of teachers get together often after school hours and for the most part, seem to enjoy each other’s company. In fact, some of the teachers who have been at the school for a long time enjoy reminiscing about past students and events and even relish passing on school traditions such as an annual end-of-year teacher skit.

Sunrise has seen a succession of four principals during the past 10 years. Carl Davis, the third principal, initiated the reform program. He was committed to making time for the staff to work together collaboratively and ensuring that all staff members had a voice in making decisions related to the school, including decisions regarding curriculum and instruction. Carolyn Smith became the fourth principal at the school about a year and a half ago. Ms. Smith did not want to change things drastically for the faculty at first, so she agreed the reform program should stay in place. Confronted with the additional work a fairly new reform program requires and getting to know her faculty, staff, and students, Ms. Smith admits she has been somewhat overwhelmed.

While some teachers report that Ms. Smith comes and asks for their advice and input on school issues, many do not believe they have a voice in decision making. Grade-level teams usually meet twice a month at Sunrise, and the staff is supposed to meet as a group once a month. However, quite a few teachers report that Ms. Smith does not enforce the regular meetings of teachers, other than when the model developer staff comes for training sessions, and she does not require that grade-level teams report on their progress and decisions.

When asked about their school vision, the staff at Sunrise by and large did not feel there was a vision in place. Although a vision had been established under the leadership of previous principals, the recent change in leadership left teachers feeling adrift. A 10-year veteran Sunrise teacher believed that the teachers individually held a vision of focusing on the students and doing what was best for them. However, she added, "In the last year or two we have had trouble seeing where we are going. Right now I don’t think we have a vision. We are stumbling, trying to find it. I feel very frustrated."

Another teacher said, "There used to be a vision. It was very evident, to get kids successful in everything, but that has been pushed back."

Without a vision to guide them and lacking a leader who emphasized teamwork, the staff found it difficult to work together as a group. When collaboration occurred, it was usually among teachers at the same grade level. One fourth-grade teacher from Sunrise commented, "At times we talk about how well our students are learning or what works best with which students, but it is more often with one or two other teachers than as a whole staff." Another described collaboration as the school’s weakest point.

Several teachers expressed anxiety about the lack of whole staff meetings to talk about changes being implemented because of the CSR program. One longtime Sunrise teacher, who had always taught in a very traditional way, indicated he was concerned about having to transfer to another school because he felt incompetent when conducting the student-centered lessons and using the technology that were part of the Sunrise’s reform program. He also felt uncomfortable developing and teaching in a less structured classroom.

A young teacher who had taught at Sunrise for three years says, "It is a sink-or-swim type of thing. I had to make major mistakes and learn from them. The facilitators [from the model developer’s office] help us a lot, but now they only come to our school four times during the year."

These teachers’ concerns are related to another issue at Sunrise. Recent changes in leadership have been accompanied by a higher teacher turnover at the school. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it has created a problem in that new teachers have not received all of the training provided by the model developer.

Many Sunrise teachers noted that the principal is not very visible on campus and believed the school was becoming very cliquish. One group of teachers has been very vocal about their dislike of the reform program now underway. Several others mentioned that this group does not interact much with other teachers, which is unusual at Sunrise given the congeniality of the staff.

Yet another problem for Sunrise is related to a change in leadership at the district level, too. The superintendent who encouraged the former principal to adopt a comprehensive school reform model and program has moved on to a larger district. The new superintendent is feeling pressure from the state and from the community to raise levels of achievement on the standardized test scores. He has advocated a new math program that he believes should help raise math scores and is beginning to pressure the principals in the district to make an all-out effort to improve all scores.

Ms. Smith observes, "More mandates are now coming from the district than ever before. Some of these district-level decisions conflict with our reform program, including the new math program the district has required all elementary schools to adopt."

Compounding their turmoil, the Sunrise staff was disappointed when they learned during the summer that their students’ state-mandated standardized test scores had not improved, even though many believed they had changed instruction for the better. Members of the vocal group of staff opposed to the CSR program began lobbying Ms. Smith to end the program. She agreed that it would be best if they ended the reform effort at mid-term and focused their energies on teaching to the standardized test, to see if that would help improve their scores.