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Learning From School Reform


File number :
CS-APE-15e

Bibliographic reference :
Reference Levin, H.M. (2001, May). Learning From School Reform. Paper given at the International Conference on Rejuvenating Schools through Partnerships. Hong Kong, China.
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/coce/pdf_files/b4.pdf

Abstract :

Educational Reforms versus School Conservatism and Stability
In general, educational reforms are only meant to change the skills of school participants, whose attitudes and modes of operation are the greatest obstacles to change. Most schools prefer not to undermine their stability with changes. Two schools in comparable settings are active communities with their own culture, which means that the same reform in similar settings will not necessarily be accepted and implemented in the same way.

This resistance to change has been recognized in the United States, as reflected in the most recent educational reforms and the two following responses: (1) any school interested in adopting a reform needs to demonstrate its "buy-in" and (2) school personnel, rather than external experts, must implement the reform (building empowerment in schools).

The Accelerated Schools Process
Developed by the author of this paper, this project was launched in 1986 in two elementary schools in the San Francisco area. Its objective was to replace traditional, rote learning with a diversified approach usually reserved for the most gifted students. This type of learning enables students to gain a better understanding of their efforts and the links between school activities and real-world experiences.

The project was initially addressed to problem students, to those with low levels of family income and parental education, as well as immigrants and ethnic minorities. But it was also extended to students from middle-class families. In 2001, the project involved 600,000 students in 1100 schools in the United States (in 41 states), Australia and Hong Kong.

With this project, changing school culture and educational practices simultaneously – the key to its success – depended on three principles: (1) the active cooperation of the school community at large (parents, teachers, students, administrators, community, etc.), (2) the empowerment of schools coupled with responsibility and (3) using all the school’s learning resources (students, parents, school team, community).

Implementing Accelerated Schools
Through this project, a systematic, multi-step process was developed: (1) the school gathers quantitative and qualitative information (stock-taking) on its situation, (2) the school community forges a vision of the ideal school, (3) the school community sets and prioritizes its goals, 4) the school establishes its participatory governance system, (5) the school establishes its implementation methods (which may vary widely from one school to the next), (6) the school community assesses progress (a toolkit for this purpose was developed for the project) and (7) a formal support team is created. Most of the time this team includes an external coach, the principal and an internal facilitator, as well as coaches at the school site building capacity on a weekly basis.

Accelerated Schools in Hong Kong (Accelerated Schools for Quality Education Project – ASQEP)
During the 1997-1998 academic year, the project was launched in 50 Hong Kong schools for a three-year term. It addressed the need for a way to shift from a traditional educational approach to a more active system that would better prepare youths for major changes in the workplace. This change was complicated by two cultural shifts: (1) the cultural change in school pedagogy (as in the U.S.) and (2) the cultural change in school from the society of origin (the U.S.) to the other society (Hong Kong).

The scope of the cultural shift differed across schools. Two main factors seemed to increase the likelihood of the project succeeding: (1) the degree of involvement of leaders and (2) the time devoted to teacher training. Other factors influenced the success of the project, such as parental pressure, the formal organization of schools and the history of centralized versus decentralized decision-making.

For more information on accelerated schools, see abstract CS-APE-17 and the following website: www.acceleratedschools.net



Links :
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/coce/pdf_files/b4.pdf

Key Words :
School Reforms, School Culture, Educational Change, Implementation, Empowerment, Accelerated Schools, Accelerated Learning, Accelerated Schools Project, Accelerated Schools for Quality Education Project (ASQEP), School-family-community Partnership, Educational Inequalities, Newsletter13

Monitored Countries :
Hong-Kong, United States