Reform as Learning: School Reform, Organizational Culture, and Community Politics in San Diego

Looking closely at the recent reform efforts in San Diego, this book explores the full range of critical issues pertaining to urban school reform. Drawing on the systemic school reform initiative that was launched in San Diego in the 1990s, this book explores all layers of the school reform process - from leadership in the central office, to work with principals and teachers, to the impact on how teachers worked with students in the classroom. The authors draw on careful ethnographic research collected over the entire four years of the San Diego reforms, in order to identify, not only how teachers, principals and other district educators were shaped by the large-scale reforms, but also the ways in which the reform unfolded. In doing so, the book shows more broadly how actors throughout a school system can change the views of leaders and impact the larger reform process.

Table of Contents:
1. Using Theory to Understand the San Diego Reforms  2. Using Research to Understand the San Diego Reform  3. History of Reform in New York City's Community District #2  4. Using District Leaders' Theory of Action to Understand the San Diego Reform from 1998 to 2002  5. Learning in Classrooms: The Enactment of the Reform between Teachers and Students  6. Learning in Teacher Professional Development: the Enactment of Reform between Teachers and School Leaders  7. Learning in Leadership Professional Development: the Enactment of Reform between School Leaders and Instructional Leaders  8. Demystifying the Gap Between Theory and Practice in the SDCS Reform  9. Changes in the Reform Influenced by Technical Constraints, Cultural and Political Conflict  10. Conclusions

About the Author :
Lea Hubbard is an Associate Professor in the Foundations area of the Learning and Teaching program in the School of Education. Mary Kay Stein holds a joint appointment at the University of Pittsburgh as Associate Professor of Administrative and Policy Studies and Research Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. HughMehan is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Research Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center.

Review :
"This book is a critical read for any of us who engage in or observe attempts to make change in urban school districts." --TCRecord: The Vioce of Scholarship in Education (October 13, 2006) "Reform as Learning is a thoughtful and comprehensive book that chronicles the relatively short history of the San Diego reform, using a sociological lens to examine the challenges of implementing an untested program of considerable depth and scope and to provide several explanations for why the reform failed to achieve what its creators promised." -- Barbara Schneider, American Journal of Sociology, Volume 113, Issue 6, Page 1745-1747, May 2008