A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Study of Curriculum Reform - October 1996

Cross-Site Analysis of the Case Studies of Curriculum Reform

Introduction

Although our individual case studies of curriculum reform convey important insights, the key messages that emerge from looking across the nine case studies collectively are even more powerful. Much of this power is due to the context in which these reforms have taken root--common everyday school settings influenced by various facets of the reform forces at work in the country.

The reform efforts that began in the U.S. in the early eighties have had many faces and continue to evolve. Many political forces at the national, and especially the state level, are influencing educational policy decisions with respect to curriculum requirements and means of assessment. The results of cognitive science research and studies of educational practice undergird many of the reform movements. Subject matter perspectives are reflected in the NCTM Mathematics Standards and the recommendations of various science groups. Common themes cut across these many reform influences, but nevertheless, reform has many faces and a somewhat different visage in each school setting.

The case study sites are a product of these multiple forces. They were not experimental sites designed by researchers to test their ideas, nor showcase sites developed by reformers as the ultimate expression of what they wanted or see put into practice. These sites were ordinary schools whose specific new forms resulted from the outworking of the many reform forces in our society. They were selected because there was evidence that their reforms were successful, even though they had to make change in the face of everyday constraints, limited resources, barriers to reform, and competing demands on educational practice.

These individual cases, and the cross-site analysis, highlight the inadequacies of a common misconception worthy of identification up front, namely the simplistic notion that the curriculum reforms under consideration here can be precisely defined and understood independent of the specific school context in which they are initiated. What occurs in practice is a reflection of these reform ideas in interaction with the specific context of each school setting. Reforms cannot be initiated in a uniform manner across schools independent of the culture of the particular school or department, or the history of educational practice at that site, or the professional competence and experience of its staff. The story that follows is a story of complexity and unevenness--in terms of events, context and the successes achieved. The major reason for telling the story is to identify key messages from these reform sites of interest to others who want to venture down some of the many pathways through the countryside of reform.

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[Case Study of Rockview High School: Thinking Across Disciplines]

[The Cross-Site Analysis Process]