A United Commitment to Change: Districts and Unions Collaborate to Implement School Improvement Plans

Following the Department of Education's announcement of the $3.5 billion in Title I funding, 831 of the nation's "persistently lowest-achieving schools" received federal funding during the 2010-11 school year to embark on significant change in the form of a School Improvement Grant (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The Department of Education was not interested in slow, incremental change. Rather, the goal was for immediate change. In nearly every case, the school came under new leadership, and, in some instances, a large number of the staff was replaced. The nation has an extensive track record with comprehensive school reform. There are more than 8,000 elementary and secondary schools adopting some form of a comprehensive school reform model, and results are pending. A major shortcoming of nearly all of these studies, however, is that they fail to account for the extent to which schools have actually implemented their chosen model. Thus, the question: What ingredients are needed for comprehensive school-based reform that is both positive and sustainable? This paper discusses the ingredients of sustainable change and cites examples of schools making early success happen.