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

Systemic Reform as Capacity Building

In theory, of course, systemic reform is posited as a means of providing top-down, systemwide support for bottom-up instructional improvement in classrooms and schools. A primary aspect of this support is building the capacity of local school people to initiate and sustain reform efforts directed towards more challenging student learning. Systemic reform strategies derived in part from criticisms that the top-down mandates of the 1980s were not having the desired impact on classroom instruction because fragmented and contradictory policies diverted teachers' attention and provided little or no support for the type of professional learning necessary. This same fragmentation, it was argued, made it difficult to sustain or spread the very promising reforms taking shape in individual schools or groups of schools. A more systemic approach, involving clear and consistent vision, a coherent set of state policies aligned with that vision, and a restructured governance system to devolve instructional authority to those closest to instruction, could provide the focus needed as well as multiple and reinforcing opportunities for teachers and other educators (and the general public) to engage in conversation about desired outcomes, to develop the knowledge and skills to move towards those outcomes, and to evaluate and improve practice. All this was conceived as a means to increase the capacity of the system to assist all children in reaching challenging standards of achievement.

The literature advocating systemic reform and our study suggest several potential avenues and specific tools for building capacity within the broader systemic reform strategies. Most of these will be apparent from our discussion of these states' efforts in this and previous chapters. We therefore review them only briefly here and then use two extended examples across the three states to explore both the promise and the limitations of these tools in practice.
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[Theme 3: Organizational Capacity, like Individual Capacity, Can Be Galvanized and Nurtured Through Infusion of Ideas and Perspectives from Outside its Ranks.]

[Systemic Tools to Enhance Capacity]