Change and Effectiveness in Schools

Gretchen B. Rossman is Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Leadership and Administration Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.H. Dickson Corbett is the Director of Improvement Studies at Research for Better Schools, Inc. in Philadelphia. William A. Firestone is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education, and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Policy Research in Education at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

• Foreword Preface 1 Introduction The Central ArgumentSchool CulturesChange: Cultural and PlannedOverview2 Monroe High School: The Comprehensive Ideal and Basic Skills Improvement Monroe High SchoolPerspectives on PurposeThe Basic Literacy Program and Teacher ResponsesConclusion3 Westtown: Improvement Efforts in a Good School Westtown High SchoolThe Faculty TalksWesttown's EthosChange at WesttownThe Sacred and ChangeEpilogue4 Somerville High School: A School for Good Citizens The SettingHistorical BackgroundThe Inner CircleDiscipline and OrderEducation for Tomorrow: Work and the IndividualChallenges to Autonomy5 Culture and Change Variations in Local School CulturesFaculty Responses to ChangeObservations on Behavioral and Cultural Change6 Culture and Effectiveness Definitions of EffectivenessAppropriate Definitions of EffectivenessAppendix References Index

"The authors establish a clear framework and move effectively between the general framework and the case studies. The book focuses on a major, neglected topic and does it well." — Michael G. Fullan, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education"I like the authors' approach—the attempt to join description with theory—and the successful outcome. Their effort and their results make sense."— Philip A. Cusick, Michigan State University