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

Nature of the Reforms

A major theme of the literature review conducted prior to the case studies was that the desired reforms are complex, multi-faceted and extend into the most basic aspects of the teaching and learning process. This same theme emerges from the case studies themselves. What was found in the schools studied were change endeavors that were multi-dimensional, highly interactive and connected with the most fundamental aspects of teaching and learning. Furthermore, as will be discussed in considerable detail in the following section on barriers to reform, their depth is such that achieving the desired reforms demands great effort and commitment expended over a substantial period of time. The educational reforms described in the NCTM Standards, the publications of such science reform groups as AAAS's Project 2061, NSTA's Scope, Sequence and Coordination Project, and more recently the National Research Council, and the more general educational reform groups such as the Coalition of Essential Schools and the High Success Network are truly of major proportions.

Although our nine cases were quite diverse--in spite of being selected because they were successfully initiating reforms--they had much in common with respect to the reforms they were seeking. The earlier literature review documents the theoretical basis for much of the reform; our case studies address what these reforms look like in practice. Given the difficulty of initiating these reforms, it is not surprising that we found great variation from one teacher to another in the extent to which these practices had been initiated. Nevertheless, within our cases we found displays of the reforms which make concrete what has been advocated in various reform documents. To further describe these reforms, they will be addressed within the three dimensions of technical, political, and cultural.

The technical dimension. This dimension focuses upon the teacher knowledge and skills needed to bring about the reform and the means by which teachers acquire them in the reform context. It must be noted as well, however, that it includes new knowledge and skills for students in classrooms (e.g., with respect to self-directed learning) and for policy-makers and top administrators (e.g., with respect to sharing power and authority and fostering new visions of education.) The new knowledge and skills for teachers are in curriculum content and pedagogical approach.

Curriculum content. The new content orientation is fairly straight-forward and obvious both from reading the new standards in national reform documents--or state curriculum guides based on them--and examining curriculum materials intended to reflect these standards. The focus is on major concepts and themes rather than discrete items of isolated information and the accumulation of facts. The new orientation gives significant attention to the connections between these concepts and the means by which scholars acquire this knowledge and between these concepts and their personal and societal applications. The focus now is upon integrated content rather than isolated disciplines or subject areas.

The pursuit of this new orientation is evident in our cases--although not always fully attained--as illustrated in the following statements.

In general, the content in a reformed classroom emphasizes conceptual understanding.
The goals included (1) mathematics content that is more advanced and organized somewhat differently from conventional texts (i.e., organized around problem topics rather than conventional topics), (2) student work involving more explorations ... The program integrates mathematics "strands," links content to real-world applications ... and emphasis on written and oral communication.
The content of this program looks very different from traditional secondary science education. Absent are the lists of vocabulary words and the emphasis on facts such as learning the parts of the flower, or "dissecting frogs and learning all the parts," or naming all the bones of the body that are isolated from the rest of the curriculum. What has traditionally been perceived as science content is now embedded in a conceptual approach to learning "how science works."
The goals ... focused more on higher thinking than on learning discrete information.
Pedagogical approaches. In contrast to curriculum content, the new pedagogical approaches are more diverse, their demarcation from traditional practice less apparent, and their acquisition by practitioners more complicated. While based on fairly well understood constructivist perspectives on learning, their reflection in teaching is not as clear-cut. This pedagogical approach potentially has many different components, but the presence of a few--or even many--of these components does not necessarily mean the pedagogical reforms are in place. The manner in which they are used greatly influences whether or not students are acquiring depth of understanding, engaging in authentic problem solving, or applying their understanding in new contexts.

In cross-site discussions by the researchers, the following emerged as a portrayal of the new orientation being sought in the various reform sites.


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[The Cross-Site Analysis Process] [Table of Contents] [Traditional--Reform Pedagogy Continuum]