| Week 1 - September 5: Why change?
Why not? |
|
Overview of the course and key issues in school change. Participants
will be introduced to the debates around whether or not schools have improved.
Printable Syllabus
(word)
|
Designs for New Schools
|
Week 2 - September
12: What's involved in change?
The nature of change and the complexity of the “change
process”
Required:
- Fullan, M. (2006). “Change” In Turnaround leadership. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 35-68.
- Hargreaves, A. (2009). The fourth way of change. In A. Hargreaves & M. Fullan (Eds.) Change Wars. Solution Tree.
- Senge, P. (1990). “The art of seeing the forest and the trees.”
In The Fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday, 127-135.
Recommended:
- Hatch, T. (2009). “It takes capacity to build capacity” and “Changing conditions, changing times.” Chapters 1 & 2 from Managing to change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times. New York: Teachers College Press.
|
Due in class: 3-4 page letters |
Resources on Change
|
Week 3 - September
19: What has changed? What
hasn't?
A brief history of key events and issues in school reform:
"Incremental" vs. "radical" change; how reforms change schools and schools
change reforms; predictable failures; and the grammar of schooling.
Required:
- Tyack, D. & Cuban, L. (1995). Tinkering toward utopia:
A Century of public school reform. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press. Chapters 1-4.
Recommended:
|
|
History Resources
|
Week 4 - September
26: What should change?
An examination of the theories and assumptions behind school
reform efforts.
Required:
- Hatch, T. (1998). “The differences in theory that matter in the
practice of school improvement,” American Journal of Education
35 : 3-31.
- Cohen, D. K., & Moffit, S. (2009). “Title 1” & “Epilogue” (pp. 179-231) in The ordeal of equality: Did federal regulation fix the schools? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Recommended:
Due in class: 1 page description of a reform effort to serve as the basis for the reform critique
|
Background Resources
|
Week 5 - October 3: How can schools change?
An exploration of the theories behind a variety of approaches that seek to redesign schools and/or learning (such as Core Knowledge, Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, KIPP, or the Big Picture Company)
Required:
- Websites and selected program documents and evaluation reports from one of the school designs.
Recommended:
Due in class: Bring a brief (1-2 paragraph) description of your initial view of the theory of action underlying key aspects of one of the designs.
|
School Designs
|
Week 6 - October
10: Why don’t schools change? The perils and the promise
of school reform.
A consideration of the key problems with current reform efforts.
Required:
- Cohen, David (1990). “A Revolution in one classroom: The Case of
Mrs. Oublier.” Educational Evaluation Policy Analysis, 12.
- Elmore, R. (2003). “Change and improvement in education.”
In David Gordon (Ed.). A Nation reformed? Cambridge: Harvard
Education Press.
- Payne, C. (2008). “I don't want your nasty pot of gold From social demoralization to organizational irrationality” In So much reform, so little change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Recommended:
- Evans, R. (1996). “Reach and realism, experience
and hope.” In The Human side of school change. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, p. 289-299.
Due: Lists of group members for school design project |
Centers for Research and Evaluation
|
Week 7 - October 17: What can new schools look like?
Initial discussion of new school designs and the school design process.
Required:
Due: 4-5 page reform critiques
Week 8 - October
24: Purposes, key elements and approaches to school design
Why have a school? What purposes does it serve? Who will it serve? How will it be designed?
Required:
- Darling-Hammond, L. (1997). “Structuring learner-centered schools” and “Staffing schools for teaching and learning.” In The Right to learn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 148-210.
- Hatch, T. (2009). “Key practices for managing change.” Introduction to Part II in Managing to change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times. New York: Teachers College Press.
Recommended:
- Hatch, T. (2009). “Developing common purposes and shared understanding.” Chapter 3 in Managing to change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times. New York: Teachers College Press.
- Meier, D. (1999). “Habits of mind: Democratic values and the creation of effective learning communities” in Common schools, uncommon futures: A working consensus for school renewal. New York: Teachers College Press.
|
Resources
for designing charter schools and small schools
Resources for Budgeting:
 
|
|
Week 9 - October 31: Theories of learning.
What theories of learning underlie the design of a school? What are the goals? How will they be achieved?
Required:
Due in class: Draft description of proposed school’s purpose, location, and students/community. |
Resources for theories of learning:
Architectural design and learning:
|
Week 10 - November 7: Community, & Culture
What kind of school culture(s) reflect your purpose and the learning you hope to support? Who is your community? How are culture and community related?
Required:
- Berger, R. “The radon project.” In A Culture of quality. Providence, RI. Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 13-51.
- Stoll, L. (1998). School culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin, 9.
- Hatch, T. (1998). How community action contributes to achievement. Educational Leadership, 55 (8), 16-19.
- Warren, M., Hong, S., Rubin, C. & Uy, P. (2009). Beyond the Bake Sale: A Community-Based Relational Approach to Parent Engagement in Schools. Teachers College Record, 111(9), 2209-2254.
Recommended:
- Evans, R. (2001) “The Culture of Resistance.” In L. Iura (Ed.), The Jossey-Bass Reader on School Reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Due in class (for discussion in design teams): Initial draft/outline of the school’s curriculum
Due Monday November
12 at 6 PM: Drafts of the Executive Summary and supporting documents for key elements of the design (such as curriculum and instruction materials or hiring criteria and professional development plans, etc.)
Week 11 - November 14: Discussion of initial design proposals.
Due in class: Peer feedback for one design
Week 12 - November
21: No class. |
Resources on Community Organizing and Community Involvement
|
Week 13 - November 28: Professional Development.
What do staff members need to know and do? What kinds of support do they need?
Required:
Selections from:
- Elmore, R. & Birney, D. (1997). “Investing in teacher learning.” National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. http://www.nctaf.org/publications/Elmore.pdf
- Heneman, H.G., Milanowski, A., Kimball, S. M. & Odden, A. (2006). Standards-based teacher evaluation as a foundation for knowledge- and skill-based pay. CPRE Policy Briefs, 45.
- Odden, A. et. al. (2001). Enhancing teacher quality through knowledge and skill-based pay. CPRE Policy Briefs, 34.
- Doyle, D., Han, J. & Public Impact (2012). Measuring Teacher Effectiveness: A Look ‘Under the Hood’ of Teacher Evaluation in 10 Sites. New Haven, CT: ConCan & Public Impact. http://50can.org/sites/50can.org/files/Measuring%20Teacher%20Effectiveness.pdf
Recommended:
- Hatch, T. (2009). “Working on hiring and turnover” and “Creating a productive work environment.” Chapters 4 & 5 in Managing to change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times. New York: Teachers College Press.
Due in class (for discussion in design teams): Outlines of staff hiring and selection criteria and/or professional development plans.
|
Resources on Teaching
and Professional Development
|
|
Week 14 - December 5: Assessment and Accountability
How should a school be assessed and to whom is it accountable?
Required:
- Darling-Hammond, L. & Snyder, J. (1992).
"Reframing Accountability: Creating Learner-Centered Schools" In Ann
Lieberman (Ed.), The Changing Context of Teaching, Ninety-first
Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, (11-36).
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Ninety-first Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 11-36. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Furman, S. (1999) "The New Accountability" Consortium for Policy Research in Education University of Pennsylvania.
- Abelman, C. & Elmore, R. (1999) "When
accountability knocks, will anyone answer?
- McDonald, J. (1993). The dilemmas of planning backwards.
Providence, RI: Coalition of Essential Schools.
Recommended:
- Hatch, T. (2009). “Managing the external environment.” Chapter 7 in Managing To Change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times. New York: Teachers College Press.
|
Due in class (for discussion in design teams): Outlines of assessment and accountability plans. |
Resources on Testing
Smarter Balanced Assessments
PARCC Assessments
|
