Creating and Sustaining Change

Max Thompson
Jan 01, 2007

Research and exemplary practice offers policymakers and district leaders many guidelines on how to enact sustainable change.
In 1962, Bob Dylan asked, "How many times must a man look up, before he sees the sky?" Educators and policymakers are struggling to find ways to implement and sustain educational changes and make significant differences in children's lives. But to paraphrase Dylan, how many times can we continue to enact policies that fly in the face of years of research on change? How many times can we ignore what has been proven to work in exemplary schools because of perceived resistance to change, and therefore, not changing in order to keep the peace in a district or school? How many times can we continue to not act on what we know about facilitating sustainable change? This knowledge needs to be widely understood by all stakeholders in public education.

Lessons about Managing Change

1. Develop a Reform-Support Infrastructure

  • Reorganize district policies, practices, norms, communication mechanisms, support structures, and incentives

  • Identify and change dysfunctional structures and practices

  • Develop a creative communication networking system for a high level of information sharing

  • Focus on the ability to adapt innovations to fit local needs

  • Create an atmosphere of consistent and pervasive use of formative assessment, reflection, and action research that captures the lessons of implementation and change

  • Provide abundant professional development by facilitating an on-going, interactive, flexible, learning environment for developing new knowledge and skills


2. Use Instructional Coaches / Facilitators To Build Capacity

  • Because of the complexity of implementing and sustaining large-scale change initiatives, district and school administrators cannot do it alone. Numerous studies have found that in addition to principal and teacher leadership, a combination of external and internal instructional facilitators or coaches play a crucial role - and are necessary for supporting teachers in the change process.

  • Designated instructional coaches provide support, technical assistance, and clarity about new change projects.

  • Many studies and documentation from exemplary schools has found that the presence of an instructional coach contributed to internal capacity building and to a greater sense of personal mastery, confidence, and ownership in school staff.

  • Key to coaches' effectiveness is their ability to provide abundant, school-based professional development that features formal training, coaching, modeling and demonstrations, collaborative reflection, and formative evaluation. These allow for adult learning and a most active, sustainable change process.

  • Coaches and school administrators working together can balance pressure with support. For more than two decades, research has shown that large-scale educational innovations live or die by the amount and quality of assistance and coaching that teachers receive. Policymakers need to understand that pressure without support can lead to resistance and alienation. Conversely, support without pressure can result only in maintaining the status quo.

  • Facilitators provide the vehicles and structure for the provision of adult learning time. As we attempt to implement new innovations, we must provide teachers with adult learning time that is structured time for planning, reflection, application with coaching, and peer discussions.

3. Increase Clarity and Reduce Fragmentation and Overload

  • As solutions get piled on top of other solutions and frequent changes occur, it creates overload and clutter. Justifiably, educators respond to this clutter with "This too shall pass."

  • When teachers do not readily see the connections or do not know the priorities, they respond with inertia and fall back to what they know best.

  • Goal should be clear, well-stated priorities and policy coherence and coordination.

  • Define school expectations and reform ownership in terms of school-wide data and hold everyone accountable for the data benchmarks.


Lessons from Exemplary Practice

1. Clear priorities with benchmarks

  • Clear prioritized and mapped K-12 curriculum for all teachers

  • Benchmark assessments to state and local curriculum standards

  • Common grade-level expectations for all students


2. Research-based literacy curriculum K-12 with significant focus on K-3 reading and writing

  • Number One Goal = All children reading and writing on grade level by the end of third grade

  • Literacy focus in grades K -12 on reading/writing across curriculum


3. Significant extra-help component for acceleration and remediation

  • Multiple opportunities for students to get extra help and tutoring

  • Consistent, pervasive use of acceleration and previewing to increase scaffolding of grade-level learning


4. Sustained, school-based staff development with coaching

  • Provides coaching, modeling, demonstrations, collaborative planning and reflection

  • Forms an instructional leadership team with school administrators as well as a bridge between school and central office

5. A focus on organizational smallness within a school

  • Goal = Sustained relationships over time

  • Multi-grade teams, looping, multi-aged classrooms or teams


Questions for Administrators and Teachers:

1. How many of the Lessons about Managing Change has your organization adapted into its change plans?

2. How does your organization deal with building capacity and support for new ideas with principals and teachers?

3. What are two examples of how your organization has worked to increase clarity and reduce fragmentation?

4. Can you take each of the five components of the Lessons about Exemplary Practice and match it with your organization's implementation plan?

References:
Cawelti, G. (1999). Improving achievement. The American School Board Journal, July, 34-37.
Elmore, R., & McLaughlin, M. (1998). Steady work: Policy, practice, and the reform of American education (Paper presented to the National Institute of Education.) Santa Monica, CA.: Rand
Fullan, M. (1993). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. London: Falmer Press.
Fullan, M. (1999). Change forces: The sequel. London: Falmer Press.
Fullan, M. (1992). Getting reform right: What works and what doesn't. Phi Delta Kappan, 73(10), 744-752.
Institute for the Education of At-Risk Youth (1999). Practice in exemplary schools: What did they do and how did they get there? Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Johnson, J. & Asera, R. (1999). Hope for urban education: A study of nine high-performing, high poverty, urban elementary schools. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Joyce, B. & Showers, B. (1988). Student achievement through staff development. New York: Longman.
Louis, K. (1989). The role of the school district in school improvement. In M. Holmes, K. Leithwood, & D. Musella (Eds.), Educational policy for effective schools (pp 145-167) Toronto, Ontario: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press.
Marzano, R., Zeno, B., & Pollack, J. (1999). Research into practice: Assessment, grading, and record keeping in the classroom. Aurora, CO: McREL.
McLaughlin, M. (1990). The Rand Change Agent Study revisited. Educational Researcher, 5, 11-16.
McLaughlin, M. & Talbert, J. (1993). Contexts that matter for teaching and learning, Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University, Center for Research on Secondary School Teaching.
Mizell, H. (1999, December). What key reformers have learned about reform. Panel Presentation at the National Staff Development Council Conference, Dallas TX.
National Commission on Time and Learning, (1994). Prisoners of time. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Newmann, F. & Wehlage, G. (1995). Successful school restructuring. Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools.
Sarason, S. (1990). The predictable failure of educational reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wolk, R. (1998). Strategies for fixing failing schools. The Pew Forum on Educational Reform. New York: The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Max Thompson is the founder of the Learning-Focused Schools Model and author of many books on raising achievement and school improvement reform.