How Schools Change: Lessons from Three Communities Revisited

Wagner has written three profiles of schools in the process of change. What I found helpful about this book is that he recognizes that this process will take time and will encounter set backs but it is still very much worth doing.He presents three goals that need to be at the front of any kind of school reform--legislators? are you listening? First, there need to be clear goals identified by the staff; setting clear goals will help measure the progress and clarify just what it is to be called educated in our culture. Second, he states that the staff needs to have core values of compassion and integrous commitment to educational aims. That sounds like election-year mumbo-jumbo, yet, read for what it is worth, it really needs to be addressed. Third, he stresses the collaboration required amonst staff at all levels; each needs the other if it is going to be done well.Implicit in all of these three steps of school reform, Wagner writes, is this, "Some of the better corporations have been practicing for a decade what many public schol are just beginning ot understand: the people who are closest to the problem should be the ones to make decisions and have the responsibility for solving it. Elected officials cannot be expected to run school systems with any degree of competence. They know too little about educational issues in most cases, are too far removed from the problems, and are too subject to pressures from various constituent groups" p. 228. That sure shoots down State Testing and Vouchers.For the most part, I found his fourth and final chapter the most beneficial, but take the time to encounter the entire book. He is a clear writer and sets forth a balanced perspective.

Looks closely at how reforms play out in different kinds of schools. It is nice to see a book that backs its agenda with open-eyed, practical review of obstacles to true change. Underlying this is Wagner's evident scholarship and experience as a school reform leader. As a student, I think we, our teachers, and everyone else who cares about education reform need to pay this kind of close attention to what actually happens in real schools when reform is attempted.