Joining the Dots: The Challenge of Creating Coherent School Improvement

Abstract

Background/Context Sustained school improvement requires adequate organizational and instructional coherence, yet, in typical high schools, subject department organization, norms of teacher professional autonomy, and involvement in multiple initiatives present powerful obstacles to forging a coherent approach to improvement. This study examines the relationships among coordination, coherence, and improved achievement in five New Zealand high schools voluntarily participating in an initiative to improve the achievement outcomes of underserved student groups. Purpose The first purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework for describing and evaluating coordination and coherence and to apply it to the implementation of an improvement initiative. The second purpose is to examine the relationship between coherence and longitudinal trends in pass rates on national qualifications. Research Design Adjusted odds ratios were used to compare the pass rates of students in the five high schools before and after the intervention. This analysis, conducted independently of the study of school coherence, yielded a group of schools whose pass rates had improved and a second group that had maintained stable pass rates through the course of the intervention. Using case studies written for each of the schools, we systematically compared the schools in each group on degree of coordination in five domains of activity and in overall coherence. Findings There were considerable differences in degree of coordination between the two groups in three of the five domains. Improving schools were more tightly coordinated in how they organized to achieve results, in teacher professional learning, and in strategic leadership. Principal capability and willingness to address barriers to improved achievement, which was part of strategic leadership, was markedly greater in the improving than in the maintaining schools. In the remaining two domains, goal-setting and teacher culture, differences were smaller but still in the expected direction. The overall coherence of each improving school was independently evaluated as high, while the maintaining schools were evaluated as low or medium in overall coherence. Conclusions We discuss the implications of coordination and coherence for the successful implementation of any school improvement initiative. We argue that, since educational work contains weak cues about the adequacy of the performance of any component activity, we cannot rely on adequate coordination emerging through the interactions of interdependent agents. More emphasis must be given, in coordination theory and improvement practice, to steering such interactions through task design, widely distributed expertise, and strategic leadership.

How school culture affects teachers’ classroom implementation of learning from professional development

“…The importance of all being on the same page-highlighted in the present study-resonates with recent literature that has focused on the role of coherence in educational change efforts (Fullan & Quinn, 2016;Robinson et al, 2017) and more established literature identifying coherence as a feature of effective TPLD (Desimone, 2009;Garet et al, 2001). Related to this is the importance of managing the overall pace and scope of change being asked of teachers, so that improvements are able to be meaningfully and sustainably embedded (Robinson, 2018).…”

A scoping review of problems and challenges faced by school leaders (2003–2019)

“…All over the world, research shows that to be a headteacher is increasingly complex, with significant responsibilities vaguely defined and delimited (European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), 2012), a lot of very different things to do (Dempster et al, 2004), high external pressures (Hobson et al, 2003; Slater et al, 2018), difficult decisions to make (Cranston et al, 2006; Robinson et al, 2017) and always working with people during extended hours. Being aware of the characteristics of the job may help principals understand and improve their work while better managing themselves, changing their perspective about some situations they consider to be problems.…”

Development of an intervention framework for school improvement that is adaptive to cultural context

“…Based on the conception of Blossing et al (2015), School B was the only team-driven school, and the internal conditions within this school seemed to work quite well with the BMB approach. This is not surprising when considering the literature on successful school improvement as articulated by scholars like Robinson et al (2017) and Fullan (2016). According to them, teams are regarded as key units for enhancing reflective discussions and generating new ideas and professional learning.…”

“…Collaboration and professional discussions are the best ways to achieve coherence, according to Robinson et al (2017). The OECD states a similar emphasis in Education Policy Outlook 2019 concerning school improvement:…”

“…Collaboration and professional discussions are the best ways to achieve coherence, according to Robinson et al (2017). The OECD states a similar emphasis in Education Policy Outlook 2019 concerning school improvement:Policy developments focused on developing learning environments seem to work best and are better received when they encourage collaboration across administrative levels or between institutions.…”