Implementation and Sustainability of the International Studies School Network Model: Two Case Studies in Ohio

• In Event: Evaluation of a Multilevel Supported System Working to Implement Diverse Promising Educational Reform Programs

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this two-year, two-site, multi-method evaluation was to examine the implementation, impact, and sustainability of the International Studies School Network (ISSN) model within two schools that received three years of funding as part of Ohio’s Race to the Top efforts.

Theoretical Framework
Asia Society’s ISSN model emphasizes college and career readiness and the integration of global content throughout all subject areas. The ISSN program includes Four Pillars of Global Competence embedded in content instruction: 1) Investigating the World; 2) Recognizing Perspectives; 3) Communicating Ideas; and 4) Taking Action. Teachers use ISSN Global Task Designs, which emphasize project-based learning and globally focused learning. Member schools receive extensive on-site coaching as well as the opportunity for personnel to travel to national and international conferences and to visit other ISSN schools.

Methods and Data Sources
Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological framework that emphasizes multiple levels of contexts, the ISSN evaluation team used a holistic multiple case study design (Yin, 2014) to gather data over two years from two sites. ISSN Site #1 was a high-performing suburban public high school with 2,800 students and 150 teachers. ISSN Site #2 was a moderate-performing rural public middle school with 300 students and 16 teachers. Primary qualitative data sources included interviews with administrators, teachers, district personnel, and a model expert. Additional sources included classroom observations and grant monitoring documents.

Findings
District personnel, school administration, and teachers effectively worked together to achieve a high level of implementation of the ISSN model throughout ISSN Site #1. The year after funding, the ISSN model continued to expand in terms of the depth and quality of the implementation. ISSN Site #2 did not reach a high level of implementation, focusing its efforts on offering a two-year Global Seminar course where students were exposed to instruction guided by the ISSN framework. The course is being sustained in a reduced capacity post-funding.

Primary student outcomes attributed to ISSN included new experiences, increased global awareness, and increased awareness of audience and different points of views. Factors that promoted ISSN implementation and sustainability included: a strong match between the school’s mission and the ISSN goals; good communication about ISSN goals from the initial roll out; consistent support from leadership; meeting teachers’ needs and including them in decision making; high-quality and intensive professional development; and explicit consideration of how to link the ISSN framework to other initiatives and mandates. Factors that hindered the ISSN implementation and sustainability included: transitions of key personnel; poor communication of the reform goals; teachers feeling excluded; multiple, competing initiatives; ineffective professional development; teachers not buying in to the ISSN framework; and a lack of buy in to the ISSN goals by community members.

Scholarly Significance
This is one of the first independent evaluations of ISSN implementation. The in-depth case analyses provide rich descriptions of the implementation of ISSN in school contexts that are atypical for the ISSN model. The cross-site results provide important insights into the contexts for the implementation and sustainability of the ISSN model.

Authors

• Vicki L. Plano Clark, University of Cincinnati

• Jessica west

• Samuel C. Stringfield, University of Cincinnati

• Jacinda K. Dariotis, University of Cincinnati