When a staff development program finally focused attention on the figures, the situation began to change. In addition, monitoring data provides a good way of tracking the effects of change efforts. Joyce and Calhoun point out that this is especially important in convincing faculty that students can achieve more than they thought possible. Finally, study of data often leads to a desire for more information. As reform efforts proceed, the school generates increasingly sophisticated data and uses it in a meaningful way.
Some studies point to changes in the workplace as a key to successful organizational learning.
First, schedules and assignments should allow time for collective inquiry. Thus, schools must provide time for teachers to work and reflect together. Some schools, using early dismissal one afternoon a week, have been able to clear out significant blocks of time. Collective inquiry may be strengthened by more democratic forms of governance. These groups, composed of administrators, teachers, parents, and community members, would not be traditional parliamentary decision-making groups, but would act as champions for extended inquiry.