Principles of School Reform

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Implementing Effective School Achievement Reform
Four Principles
William G. Huitt Valdosta State University
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School Reform
The last four decades has provided voluminous
literature on how to increase the effectiveness
of the education of children and youth.
Some of the findings have been implemented while
others have not.
The purpose of the presentation is to summarize
some of the main points.
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School Reform
The four principles are

• WYMIWYG--What You Measure Is What You Get

• Student achievement is the result of the efforts
  of more than just schools

• Focus reform efforts on schools, not teachers

• Provide incentives for value added

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WYMIWYG
Most accepted measure is scores on standardized
tests of basic skills
Gallup poll results over the past 25 years points
to the publics expectation that schools will
impact achievement and character
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WYMIWYG
SCANS report identifies additional competencies
for work requirements in the 21st century

• Foundations--basic skills, complex thinking
  skills, personal qualities

• Competencies--resource and technology
  utilization, information acquisition and
  utilization, interpersonal skills, and
  understanding systems

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WYMIWYG
Critique of SCANS report identifies additional
requirements

• Cognition--abstract thinking, global thinking,
  imagination, etc.

• Affect--self-efficacy, optimism, courage,
  honesty, trustworthiness, etc.

• Conative--self-regulation, ambitious,
  willingness to adapt to change, etc.

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WYMIWYG
Many of the additional qualities and skills can
be measure reliably and validly measured
Need to establish an accountability system that
fills the information gap between schools and the
public
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More Than Just Schools
The ecology of development is an approach with
over 20 years of research support
Four major contexts provide primary support for
the development of children and youth

• Family

• School

• Religious organizations

• Community

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More Than Just Schools
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More Than Just Schools
Epstein (1995) identified six types of involvement

• Parenting

• Communicating

• Volunteering

• Learning at home

• Decision-making

• Collaborating with the community

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Focus on Schools
There is ample evidence that teacher classroom
behavior impacts student achievement
However, competent teachers are a necessary, but
not a sufficient, condition for student success
Schools must develop a learning environment
that supports change for both educators and
students
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Focus on Schools
Four principles define schools as learning
organizations

• Purposeful and results-oriented

• Create job -embedded opportunities for growth

• Develop school culture receptive to change

• Regard professional development as a continuous
  process, not an event

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Value Added
Simply because scores are high does not mean
schools are doing a good job
Conversely, when scores are low it does not
necessarily mean schools are doing a bad job
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Value Added
Students whose mothers graduate from high school
generally score better than students who do not
Students living in homes with access to
technology generally score better than students
who do not
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Value Added
Students who express a religious affiliation
generally score better than students who do not
Students in suburban schools generally score
higher than students in rural or urban areas
Students in wealthier socioeconomic areas
generally score higher than students in poorer
areas
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Value Added
Develop a balanced-scorecard approach to
managing change
Given

• family characteristics and processes

• connections to religious organizations

• community location, size and support

How well are students doing on critical outcome
measures?
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Summary Conclusions
Need to make use of the best data science has to
offer

• Specify goals and commit resources to measuring
  them on a systematic basis

• Report results to public in a timely and
  meaningful manner

• Goals must be broader than scores on a
  standardized test of basic skills

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Summary Conclusions
Need to make use of the best data science has to
offer

• Coordinate efforts with contributions made by
  home, religious organizations, and community

• Focus effort on improving schools teacher
  development should be done within that context

• Hold schools accountable for adding value over
  and above that provided by other institutions