Understanding Scale in a Large Urban District in Florida

• In Event: Transforming and Shifting Systems to Ameliorate Inequity

Abstract

This paper explores scaling of an academic and social emotional reform in the Broward County Public Schools. Through a research practice partnership, the reform scaled from three to forty-eight middle and high schools over six years. In our multilevel comparative case study across multiple participating high schools, we identify a number of factors that contributed to the scaling of the reform across the district while school implementation varied. Three factors contributed to successful scaling: a) factors internal to the district; b) factors external to the district and c) the nature of the reform itself. We identify internal and external factors that accounted for variation at the school level to understand the complexity of scaling school reforms.

Authors

• Stacey A. Rutledge, Florida State University

• Marisa A. Cannata, Vanderbilt University

• Carla P. Wellborn, Vanderbilt University

• Brittany R. Closson-Pitts, Florida State University

• Elizabeth Gilliam, Florida State University

• Stephen Bunn, Florida State University