The Reformation of the Whole School

Just kidding: Reformation (get it)

Whole-school reform does and has proved to be effective in student achievement and school outcomes. When systematic change involving all stake holders aligned in a central mission to impact the success of a school, the affect can be dramatic and substantial.

Baltimore City schools sought to affect change by promoting and implementing a school improvement grant to promote literacy and close the learning gap in elementary education. The Success for All program (1993), “uses research-based preschool and kindergarten programs, beginning and intermediate reading programs in Grades 1-3, one-to-one tutoring for low-achieving students, family support programs, and other elements” documented significant reading gains in African-American students across the board (Madden, Slavin, Karweit, Dolan, & Wasik, p. 124).

I case you needed a visual of stakeholders

As stated earlier and as pointed out in the Success for all program, system wide programming to support all stakeholders involving all stakeholders is crucial for whole-school reform. In Snyder et al. (2010), researchers found a comprehensive school-based program, including all stakeholders “can positively influence school-level achievement, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes concurrently” (p. 26).  The PA program required the school to reach out to families, the community, and every resource within the school to include faculty, staff, students, counselors, and administration to “buy in” and promote the program. In the end, the success of the implementation was found in the results that further contributed to the body of research that system wide whole-school reform can and does have a positive impact on a school’s outcome and student achievement.

In short, when strategically planned and transparently implemented, whole-school reform is successful in effecting change in a school at all levels.

References:

Madden, N. A., Slavin, R. E., Karweit, N. L., Dolan, L. J., & Wasik, B. (1993). Success for All: Longitudinal effects of a restructuring program for inner-city elementary schools. American Educational Research Journal , 30 (1).

Snyder, F., Flay, B., Vuchinich, S., Acock, A., Washburn, I., Beets, M., et al. (2010). Impact of a social-emotional and character development program on school-level indicators of academic achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes: A matched-pair, cluster-randomized, controlled trial . Journal of Resarch on Educational Effectiveness , 3, 26-55.