Audio File - Tape 1 of 2

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Text Transcript of Tape 1

Narrator: Recognizing that a good public education is the right of every child, the U.S. Department of Education established the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program or CSRD in 1998. The purpose of this initiative is to revitalize entire schools and help students reach high academic standards. Qualified schools are provided with financial incentives to implement research-based, schoolwide reforms using proven models. Under the CSRD program, a school analyzes their needs, develops a proposal and implementation plan that incorporates the nine components of comprehensive reform, and applies for funding. Once a school is selected to receive CSRD funding, it must implement the chosen reforms. Implementation is often the most challenging aspect of comprehensive school reform. It is neither a quick nor simple process. On this tape, Dr. Shirley Hord will describe six strategies that any school can follow to put comprehensive reform into place.

Dr. Hord is a program manager at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory in Austin, Texas. She oversees SEDL's work related to the CSRD program. Dr. Hord discusses the "giant leap" between adopting reforms and seeing results.

Shirley Hord: "The giant leap is a rather visual kind of metaphor to talk about or to explain how people all too frequently think about writing a proposal for a program and having it adopted, and then the expectation is that rather immediately we'll have student results. And there's this gap between adopting a program or taking it on board, and realizing student gains. A lot of hard work must go in this leap, this chasm, or this space, which we'll refer to as implementation."

Narrator: From research and practice, Dr. Hord has identified six key strategies for facilitating the changes that must come with comprehensive school reform.

Shirley Hord: "The six strategies that have been identified out of research on change process and school reform are these."

"First, there is creating a context that is conducive to change for the people who are involved in the change process. Secondly, is developing a shared vision of what that change will look like when it has been implemented in a high quality way. Third is planning and providing resources in order to reach that vision of improvement. Fourth is investing in professional development so that people learn new skills involved in the new practice. Fifth is checking progress, watching to see how well people are learning how to do the new practices. And last, sixth, is providing assistance to those people who need additional help."

"One of the things that we should be aware of is that these strategies are not a linear, step-wise set of strategies. They're very interactive and cyclical, and so we don't do one and then we stop doing that and do the next."

Narrator: The first strategy of successful implementation is for educators to create an atmosphere and context for change.

Shirley Hord: "One of the things I think is really important to understand about creating this atmosphere--and actually about the whole implementation process--is that learning--teachers learning, administrators learning--is really the basis of school improvement."

"If people can understand that and give administrators and teachers the time and space and resources to learn, then this context for change will be a great deal more conducive to the change process. We need also here to have a place where people are comfortable in their learning, who will be forgiven for making mistakes if they learn from them."

Narrator: An environment of trust is vital for the risk taking that is not only inherent, but also encouraged in successful school reform programs. School leaders are often the most important people in setting the proper atmosphere for learning. They are called upon to listen and pay attention to what is happening at every level inside the school.

Shirley Hord: "Leaders are highly important in the establishment of a context for change. While they do not do all the work by themselves, what they do is to engage the staff with them in sharing a vision of where they want to go and how they're going to get there so that they learn together."

"And what we see is a principal who is highly visible, who is in classrooms a good deal, perhaps just passing through or sitting a spell to watch a lesson. We see principals who are encouraging teachers in their learning, who are providing resources, who are providing a pause, if you will, when teachers are trying to do new practices. And so some people, it is said in the research, that principals act as the coach and the cheerleader."

Narrator: Dennis Sparks, executive director of NSDC, the National Staff Development Council talks more about the context for change in a school.

Dennis Sparks: "When I think about school context, two words come to mind: culture and structure. Culture has to do with the norms that operate in a school like norms of collaboration and experimentation, continuous improvement. Structure refers to things that either promote or inhibit learning. . So it's things like the school schedule and calendar, the labor contract, the practices of leadership in the school, the beliefs and attitudes of people who are in leadership. All of those kinds of things surround learning and surround improvement and either move it ahead or inhibit it."

Narrator: The second strategy for successful implementation is creating a shared vision of the changes that should occur. School leaders are charged with developing a clear image of the future. Their vision articulates the desired end result for the school.

Dennis Sparks: "Experts in planning often say that one of the most common mistakes that people make in planning is to begin to do activities without a clear understanding of either what they're trying to accomplish or what the barriers are to that accomplishment. So one of the most important things a school faculty can do together is to make sure they clearly understand what they're trying to achieve, that they can literally see it in their mind's eye what it would look like if this change were made in the classrooms or school."

Narrator: This type of clear understanding enables teachers and staff to see past potential barriers, such as resistance to change or the perception that there is not adequate funding to support changes. Dr. Margarita Calderon, a research scientist with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk, explains how important it is for teachers to get a full sense of the vision in order to maintain it and work toward it. Calderon works with schools that adopt the bilingual version of Success for All.

Dr. Margarita Calderon: "Once the teachers have seen what this model looks like, they begin to feel truly engaged in the development of a vision. They are able to see the tools that they're going to have. They can ask questions about the training, the materials, the type of administrative support that they can look forward to, and teachers need to have a sense of all these pieces before we can say that they have truly bought into the vision."

Narrator: Ideally, the whole community is involved with the vision development. A working partnership that involves more than just teachers, students, and parents means the vision will reflect the values of both the school and the community it serves. Wendell Brown, the principal of Alderson Junior High in Lubbock, Texas talks about the importance of having a shared vision.

Wendell Brown: "We are on an effort now to train the parents, so that they will understand exactly what is expected of their students and filtering this down all the way to kindergarten as part of a process that will be long term. And what it really means is we are going to be committed from the time that children enter school to the time that they graduate from college."

Narrator: After a clear vision of change is created, it is equally important for school leaders to communicate the vision. They must use every available avenue including meetings, written communication, and personal interactions to get the message across.

Shirley Hord: "Everywhere, every time we would hope leaders would be telling people, reminding them, sharing with them, what the vision of the school is. And this can be done at the corner coffee shop. This can be done at parent and teacher association meetings. It can be done in the hallways with whoever is coming through the school that day. What really works nicely is when the school leaders are supporting the school through advocating for this vision and are sharing the vision so that others develop the same kind of interests and energy that the school has."

Narrator: When the vision of change has been agreed to, every level - from the administrative level, to the classroom, to the students - is affected by the implementation as it takes place. This is what makes the reform effort comprehensive and effective.

Shirley Hord: "What happens when there is this shared vision is, from the administrators, what we have is budget alignment and support that will provide the materials and equipment and such that are required for this new program. Then we have at the teacher level the employment of new skills that they are learning in order that students have a better shot at understanding and learning more successfully and then students engaged in this new kind of learning that is being promoted by this program."

Narrator: The third strategy toward achieving successful implementation of comprehensive school reform is that of planning and providing resources in order to reach the vision of change. A good implementation plan should provide guidance for everyone involved in the reform effort.

Shirley Hord: "Many times we'll look at school improvement plans and it is very difficult to figure out how one can get from the vision of the school through the steps that have been identified. So developing a good plan is a hard job but one that's very important and gives the school, everyone in the school, sort of a means by which we know where we're going and what we're going to do to get to our vision."

Narrator: Sharron Havens is the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction in Lonoke, Arkansas. She works one on one with school leaders as they are going through school reform implementation.

Sharron Havens: "One of my primary roles is to collaborate with the principals, just to sit down with them and be a sounding board--let's talk through what you have planned, have you considered these particular issues? Have you planned different stages? Just going through and lots of brainstorming with the principals. Sometime working with the leadership team assisting with planning, looking at each step along the way, and just determining if we've gone through all the steps that we think are necessary in that particular stage."

Narrator: The purpose of a thorough implementation plan is to provide administrators and teachers with clear, specific instructions. However, it is important to remember that a plan should be part of an evolutionary process.

Shirley Hord: "It's not a blueprint in that it's not meant to take people step-wise and never deviate from that plan because we all know that things change between the time we plan to do something and then we get engaged in doing it. So, when things happen or when conditions develop that need an adaptation of the plan or a change of plans, then certainly that needs to be made."

"It's the vision that's going to guide everything."

Narrator: One of the strategies that will help school leaders move forward with improvements and that is tied to the planning process, is making careful decisions about resource allocation. Dennis Sparks speaks to its importance.

Dennis Sparks: "A plan for school improvement will be no stronger than the allocation of resources that are attached to the plan. Very often, we have high aspirations, but we don't budget for those aspirations."

Narrator: Additionally, resource allocation should be focused on the goals of school improvement.

Shirley Hord: "One of the things that is very clear about allocating resources, that for sure it's going to reflect the priorities of the school. So if the school is committed to a new program that requires the acquisition of materials or equipment that students will use, then that will dictate where those resources are spent."

"Central office can be an advocate for the school and they're in the position to look for resources and materials that the schools may not know about."

Narrator: The best use of resources, including time, means that teachers can be more effective in their instruction. Time is the most limited resource many schools have, and it is often the most critical resource when we begin to talk about the fourth strategy necessary to facilitate change and school reform--of investing in professional development. This includes teachers and school leaders acquiring new skills and receiving feedback and support of their efforts. It also includes having the opportunity to reflect on the impact the changes are having on students.

Shirley Hord: "One of the things that we hear over and over again is that teachers do not have time. And, in fact, I characterize this as like flying the airplane and trying to redesign it at the same time. Which is what we ask schools to do all too often. We do not provide the time when they can reflect on their practice and talk about what's working and what professional development they need. And so if the administrators and the teachers can create, can figure out where they can find time, then it would be the largest show of commitment that the school would make."

"Professional development is the kingpin, or the basis for school change. In fact, the goal of professional development is to help people to change their knowledge, their understanding, their insights, their skills, their behaviors, their attitudes or such."

"If you keep on doing what you've been doing, you're going to keep on getting the same results. And what we're after here in school reform is new and better results. Therefore, that behooves us to take on new programs, new skills, new knowledge, new behaviors, that will give us better results. So the whole basis then of the change process is learning how to do things differently so that we are more effective and so that we get increased results with student learning."

"An additional thing that we've learned in studies of professional development, in studies of change process, is that when school leaders participate with the staff in the professional development sessions, when they're there learning along with the staff, then this means that they will have a better understanding of what the staff needs and they can have a better means by which to assess the progress that the staff is making. So that participation of the school leaders in being there, engaging in professional development, and assessing how well it is being successful with the school staff is really important."

Narrator: During the reform process, it is vital that a school demonstrate its commitment to professional development, and therefore, to the process of change. There are several ways to make certain this is happening.

Shirley Hord: "One of the really valuable things that state departments and districts can do to provide support and assistance is to provide release days for teachers to engage in staff development. These are days when the students are not in school, but which teachers are focused on professional development and learning new skills. Now, learning new skills and being in a workshop, though, is not the only thing that comprises professional development. And, frequently, what we forget is that there is the follow-up that is attendant to those training sessions. We know that people typically do not learn how to do something in one session, and so they need more time to practice. They need time for someone to provide them with feedback on how they're doing. They need time for talking about what they're doing with other teachers. Something as simple as teachers coming together and talking with each other and sharing what they're doing is an excellent professional development opportunity. Because they learn from each other, they get feedback on what they're doing. And they give feedback to others."

Narrator: Dennis Sparks further explains what should be part of the professional development investment that a school makes.

Dennis Sparks: "Experts have estimated that about half of the staff development budget--and I would assume half the staff development time--needs to be devoted to things that happen in classrooms or immediately around the classroom. So the staff development budget needs to include things like in-classroom coaching, experts who would demonstrate lessons with the students of the teachers in the school so that they can see how it would work with their kids. Time for study group meetings or action research meetings or curriculum writing meetings. All of those kinds of things need to be part of the budget that's established for professional development, and shouldn't be thought of as fringes or add-ons."

Narrator: The fifth strategy that revolves around implementing comprehensive school reform is that of checking progress. This means school leaders need to keep in touch with what is going on in and around the classroom. And to do that, they use a range of measures to gauge changes in teacher practice and student learning.

Shirley Hord: "School leaders use both informal means to see what is going on, to pay attention to what is happening, and they use formal means. Informal means would be things more like observing what is happening in classrooms as they walk through. And walk-throughs are something that a lot of principals do to get a sense of how things are going in classrooms. They look at students' work. I know one principal who asked every Friday to have a sample of students' work that is related to the new program that the school is implementing."

"More formal ways would be to use evaluation instruments, to use surveys perhaps, and perhaps even some more organized interviews or little conversations with teachers where you might have a protocol in the back of your head to try and get at what's going on with the teacher and how well things are going and what needs they may have to improve their skills with this particular program delivery."

Narrator: By keeping in touch with one another, teachers and administrators can chart their own progress and keep abreast of needs. If problems arise, it allows leaders to handle those difficulties quickly.

Not only is it important for school leaders to touch base with those implementing the plan, but it is also critical to learn about the progress of the students. Dennis Sparks talks some more about how a mix of formal and informal measures--from testing to teacher reflection and conversation--can help with this effort.

Dennis Sparks: "State assessment or local assessment tests have a place because they're objective, they allow a school district to compare itself with others to get a sense of how they're doing. But the most important data, I think, comes from what teachers are learning on the job every day about how their changes in practice are affecting student learning."

"Very often teachers will discover that there might be some knowledge gap that they have in terms of the content they're teaching, or that maybe they're using a new strategy 90 percent effectively but there's a part that they've omitted that a coach in the classroom or watching a demonstration lesson by another teacher might reveal to them, and provide the kind of fine-tuning that for a slight change in effort can make a big difference in student learning."

Narrator: The sixth and final strategy of successful implementation is that of providing continuing assistance. When reforms are adopted, the new ideas that are planted require care and attention in order to thrive. As the implementers move forward with putting the plan into action, their needs change. If school leaders are aware of these changing needs, they will be able to provide effective help to the right individuals.

Shirley Hord: "In a classroom, teachers will be helping students to learn new skills and monitoring progress, and then they will be giving assistance to particular kids who need that. The same thing needs to happen with adults learning so that after you have checked progress, you will know who needs what kind of assistance and then there's the high probability that there's two or three people, or there may be small groups of people, in that school who need the same kind of help."

Narrator: There are many ways principals and administrators can offer assistance to school staff. Leaders can consistently pay attention and provide timely responses when problems arise, as they naturally will. Leaders can provide release time for teacher meetings and set up site visits to other schools going through the implementation process.

Shirley Hord: "Seeing is believing, as we know. And having that opportunity to visit with other teachers on their grade level, implementing the same program can be a very, very powerful kind of assistance to teachers. Sometimes there are videotapes of these programs and an individual teacher, or a small group of teachers, may get together and view a tape and discuss it and talk about what they've learned from the videotape. There are print materials, there are visual materials, there are visits to other places. One could even, invite a teacher from another school who is having a successful implementation of a program and ask them to come and talk with the teachers at the local school and to share what they're doing and what's been successful and what has worked."

Narrator: As the implementation progresses and results are achieved, leaders find that they must not only continue to provide assistance, but start to give another kind of support. Namely, they must motivate and energize the people who are making the change. To help sustain energy throughout implementation, there is a need for celebration. Wendell Brown explains.

Wendell Brown: "Celebration is probably one of the most important things that you can do in that people need to realize that the effort they put in is appreciated. We do it in several ways. We do it personally. I'm a firm believer in this being a face-to-face kind of person and say 'I really appreciate those efforts.' We do it in writing because it's concrete and tangible and, as teachers look at building portfolios about the successes they've had, it's very important for them to be able to validate that when they're looking at their professional growth. We announce that in our faculty meetings. We talk, we say good things about individual teachers as well as groups of teachers who have pulled together to attack a particular issue. So everything that we do is built around acknowledging the teacher."

Narrator: When the six strategies are applied and the vision of school reform has been realized, many things will be different and improved. However, the process of change has not come to an end. This reform effort is simply part of a journey to create schools that are better designed for learning success and student achievement.

Shirley Hord: "After we have engaged in a process of change using these strategies, then what we hope is that we have reached our vision of change, that classrooms are now operating in a different way."

"It's going to take some time for a school to reach its vision. But having reached its vision, that is not the end of it. Many people look at change as kind of a microwave oven approach. We get a new program, we pop it in for four minutes, and voilá, it's done. And now we can go about our business, whatever our business is. What I would hope is that when a school has experienced the change process, has had the wonderful excitement and opportunity to see that students are learning in increasingly more productive ways, and that student results are being enhanced, that they will then think about them to think now then, what do we need to do next to make our school even more effective so that school change becomes a continuous opportunity, a continuous--it's the way of living in a school."

Narrator: Today, more than 2000 elementary and secondary schools in urban and rural areas use CSRD funds to support their schoolwide improvement efforts. Thanks to a recent $75 million fund increase, more than 1000 additional schools will have the opportunity to receive CSRD funds. Each school participating in the program receives at least $50,000 of CSRD funds each year, renewable for three years.

End of transcript of Tape 1.