Curriculum Reform Dilemmas and Promise

From nine case studies, Mr. Anderson derives some findings that help us understand the dilemmas facing practitioners who seek to implement a new approach to education. Karl Tozer, chair of the Westview High School science department, persuaded his colleagues to join him in developing a new and coordinated science program that integrated biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science into a single course extending over three years. (1) He was responding to a new state curriculum framework for science and attempting to take advantage of the opportunity for support from the National Science Foundation. Carol Jennings chaired a high school mathematics department in a very decentralized state. There was no state curriculum framework to set new directions for mathematics education. However, her department was inspired to eliminate such traditional course divisions as algebra and geometry by Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, a document issued by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (2) Both Tozer and Jennings had embarked on ventures that were larger than they initially appeared to be and that had ramifications for all aspects of teaching and learning in their classes. Their cases are two of nine - three apiece in science, mathematics, and cross-disciplinary programs that we set out to study in middle schools and high schools across the country. We chose our study sites through a national search designed to locate schools that had successfully engaged in curriculum reform. Although we were searching for exemplary cases, it was clear early on that the schools we would study would be schools "in the process" of reform. We selected schools with program outcomes that indicated success on the part of their students. However, the process of making sweeping changes is long and requires fundamental alterations in school culture and in the beliefs and values of school personnel. The task of reform is ongoing and long-term; in fact, one wonders if any school will ever be able to say it has completed the task. We conducted these case studies to acquire an understanding of both the substance of the reforms and the means by which they were put in place. We wanted to understand just what the reforms were in practice, the barriers encountered in initiating them, the dilemmas experienced by teachers in making changes, and the means by which the changes were finally brought about. To do so, a researcher spent a minimum of 20 days in a given school observing classes; interviewing students, teachers, and other professionals; attending teacher meetings; viewing student work products; and collecting documents and artifacts. (3) Key Messages Although the programs we studied were prompted by a number of different reform movements, their conceptual foundations had much in common. Credit for the underlying rationale and for some of the specific reform plans was generally attributed to such subject-specific endeavors as the NCTM's Standards; the Scope, Sequence, and Coordination Project (SS&C) of the National Science Teachers Association - a precursor of the soon-to-be-released National Science Education Standards - or more general reform projects, such as the Coalition of Essential Schools.4 The perspectives and recommendations of such reform efforts typically share a concern for 1) integrating themes in the subject matter, 2) teaching for understanding by focusing in some depth on major concepts rather than covering lots of detail, 3) making connections between subject matter and its applications, and 4) reaching all students - not just the elite - with rigorous content and attention to critical thinking. Immersion in the case studies of these varied but similar reforms leaves one strong impression: the reforms being initiated in these schools are of major proportions, are very complex, and are connected to all aspects of teaching and learning. Such new orientations to the curriculum call for a different kind of teaching, demand new roles of students, and require different types of student work. …