Did States’ Adoption of More Rigorous Standards Lead to Improved Student Achievement? Evidence From a Comparative Interrupted Time Series Study of Standards-Based Reform

This study was designed to assess the effects of states’ adoption of more rigorous standards as part of the current wave of standards-based reform on student achievement using comparative interrupted time series analyses based on state-level NAEP data from 1990 to 2017. Results show that the effects of adopting more rigorous standards on students’ mathematics achievement were generally small and not significant. The effects on students’ reading achievement were also generally small, but negative and statistically significant for Grade 4. The study also revealed that the effects of states’ adoption of more rigorous standards varied across NAEP subscales and student subgroups.

The Assistant Principal as Instructional Leader: The Redesign of the AP Position in the 21st Century

Every campus leader is critical in supporting student achievement, most notably the principal and the often-unnoticed assistant principal (AP). The problem this study addresses is the lack of advancement in the AP’s role as an instructional leader in light of educational reform and the demands of the 21st century. To address this issue, the purpose of this study was to mine the literature to understand the role of the AP. A semi-systematic review of the limited literature on this topic indicated the AP, whose role has historically been a manager and disciplinarian, must be redefined to reflect an instructional and equitable leader actively seeking to ensure access and opportunity for all students. These findings suggest that the AP should be duly prepared and supported as teaching, learning, and educational leadership continue to evolve in these extraordinary times. Based on a synthesis of the literature, we argue for a revision of the outdated AP role to one more reflective of increased awareness regarding instructional leadership, student diversity, equity, and access within the current educational environment of standards-based reform.

“Boots on the ground”: The authority-power dynamic of regional service centers in standards-based reform

The current context of standards-based reform has positioned regional service centers (RSCs), intermediary governmental agencies that support state policy implementation in local districts, as a critical source of professional development (PD). In this article, we ask how a governing body that districts often interact with during challenging reform processes manages maintain strong relationships with district and school staff, and thus maintain their image as trustworthy experts on standards implementation. We explore these questions using data from 108 interviews of state, district, and regional administrators in education agencies in Ohio, Texas, and California over a three-year period. We illustrate that by providing districts with (a) differentiated support specific to their unique needs, (b) materials and tools consistent with state content standards, and (c) expertise in supporting students with disabilities and English learners in standards-based environments, RSC staff become, in the words of one state leader, the state’s trusted “boots on the ground.”

The Adaptive Challenges of Curriculum Implementation: Insights for Educational Leaders Driving Standards-Based Reform

The ambitious goals of standards-based reform call for both technical and adaptive leadership to address problems of practice involving the technical and adaptive alignment of teachers’ instruction to the standards. Thus, standards-aligned curriculum implementation necessitates both types of strategies; otherwise, adaptive challenges will persist. In this study, we analyze case studies of four districts where new English Language Arts and math curricula were recently adopted to help align teachers’ practice with their state’s English Language Arts and math standards. We draw from interviews with district leaders, principals, instructional coaches, and teachers to illustrate how mostly technical strategies for curriculum implementation do little to address the adaptive challenges that prevent teachers from fundamentally shifting their practice to be more aligned to the standards and to meet the needs of all learners. We conclude with a set of insights and implications for educational leaders approaching curriculum implementation in both technical and adaptive ways.

Learning From Standards Deviations: Three Dimensions for Building Education Policies That Last

Cynthia Coburn, in her 2016 article in the American Journal of Education—“What’s Policy Got to Do With It?”—states that the field of policy implementation suffers from the propensity to learn the same lessons over and over again. This repetition of mistakes, I argue, stems from a failure to account for predictable patterns in how policies become unpopular. Through an analysis of 52 interviews with state, regional, and district officials in California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, I investigate the decline in the popularity of K–12 standards-based reform. I consolidate existing policy implementation theories and describe three important dimensions—detail, drive, and durability—for understanding how standards and associated policies “succeed” or “fail.” Using these dimensions, I reveal how policy design and implementation choices can strengthen or weaken standards-based education policies.

The Heart of the Matter: How Reforms Unsettle Organizational Identity

The identity of public school systems changed dramatically over the past 25 years, as standards-based reform held schools accountable for more equal and academically demanding education for poorer and more diverse students. We argue that identity also changed in private and hybrid school systems. Drawing on semistructured interviews with 40 school system leaders, we examine the ways in which three different school systems – a Montessori, Center, an urban Catholic system, and the International Baccalaureate – responded to the new conditions that reforms, poverty, and migration brought to the United States. We find that leaders perceived the identity of their systems as changing, as they questioned how much the systems should adapt to the new education sector.

Leadership Hybridity: Examining Teachers’ Perceptions of Standards-Based Reform

This study considers how configurations of leadership practices impact perceptions of implementation during large-scale reform: implementation in the United States of Common Core State Standards. Comments of 951 respondents to a national teacher survey were examined. Analysis revealed the hybrid nature of leadership enactment with a range of leadership participation (RoLP) across hierarchical and heterachical structures. Findings detail how these leadership practices impacted teachers’ perceptions of educational reform. The RoLP model depicts how these practices might be spread across an organization.