The School Reform and Equity Trap

• In Event: 21.062 - MTCC Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: 21.062-8 - School Turnaround, School Transformation, and Models in School Reform: The Overload

Abstract

Schools exist in a perpetual state of transformation and change. They modify and adjust their practices, systems and structures to meet the demands required of them. The resulting demand on teachers’ time, energy, skill, and knowledge is unmatched, contributing to what is referenced in the school reform literature as overloading. Overloaded schools operate beyond their existing capacity and fail to produce improved student outcomes. Overload, as defined by Fullan (1996), is the continuous stream of planned and unplanned changes such as the multiple [initiatives] and myriad policies [schools] must deal with all at once. In this way, overload contributes to inequity and consequently prevents the type of school equality that reformers seek to create

Author

• Elizabeth Baham, Reach Institute for School Leadership