Turnaround, Hope, and the Ephemeral Durability of Urban Education Reform

• In Event: 75.014 - Organizational Improvement, School Climate, and Educational Reform: Inspiring Hope, Massaging Tensions, and Encouraging Reflection

Abstract

Why is it so difficult to improve urban schools? To address this question, we conducted a longitudinal case study of a three year attempt to “turn around” a Southeastern United States K-5 elementary school. Despite the best intentions of policymakers and school stakeholders alike, the reform effort produced mixed outcomes. In the end, turnaround as embodied at our study school reflected urban education reform’s ephemeral durability. Under this cyclical, perpetual dynamic, ambitious yet ultimately fleeting efforts to improve schools generate muddled results. Ironically, however, the apparent failure of one initiative nonetheless successfully establishes the conditions necessary to begin searching for “new and improved” reforms. What also remains is an enduring hope that improvement can and will eventually occur.
*Section 3b

Authors

• Craig Martin Peck, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• Ulrich C. Reitzug, University of North Carolina - Greensboro