On the Road to Second-Order Change: What Washington State Educators Say about Collaboration, Instructional Enhancement, and Fundamental Change. Research Report #11
Author: Seattle Pacific Univ., Lynnwood, WA. Washington School Research Center.
Date: 2008-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Educational Development,Program Effectiveness,Educational Change,Educational Experience,Educational Policy,Achievement Gains,Educational Assessment,Educational Indicators,Educational Planning,Educational Needs,Outcome Measures,Needs Assessment,Educational Improvement,Professional Development,Strategic Planning,Student Improvement,Teacher Improvement,Improvement Programs,Change Strategies,Instructional Improvement,Research Reports,Classroom Techniques,Educational Practices,Performance Factors,Educational Research,Partnerships in Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of recent educational reform efforts in Washington State and to determine what educators believe to be the most important future areas of focus. In particular, the researchers wanted to determine whether school-wide improvement efforts (i.e. School Improvement Plans (SIPs), School Improvement Teams (SITs), professional development, etc) were making a difference for teachers. To do so they explored issues related to school and classroom improvement efforts and the impact at the school, teacher, and student levels. In addition, they asked teachers to prioritize their greatest needs in the future if they are to realize the goals of this reform (all students achieving). Finally, once they identified the nature of the work, they wanted to explore the relationship between those efforts and student achievement (gains). To a large degree, this study had roots in the 1997 survey work of Fouts (1998), Baker (1998), Mork (1998), Van Slyke (1998), which resulted in developing the concept of &quot;First &amp; Second Order Change&quot;. The concept of First and Second Order Change in Washington State builds upon the work of Tyack &amp; Cuban (1995) and Goodman (1995). All three wrote about the ideas behind first order change and how it results in greater efficiency, but does not change the essence of the educational experience. In contrast, radical reform or second order change, alters the underlying philosophical beliefs driving practice: This is the type of changes Fouts and others sought to identify in the 1997 state-wide teacher survey project. Elements of the 1997 survey were used to formulate the survey questions for this study (Baker 1998). While the specific survey items were updated to reflect nearly two decades of educational development and jargon, the basic nature of exploring school-level and classroom-level efforts remained constant. The findings of this study will be helpful to parents, school administrators, educational practitioners, educational policy makers, and other educational leaders in the state of Washington. It will provide a greater understanding of (1) the nature of the work that has occurred over the last several years; (2) the needs that continue to face educators in the coming decade, and (3) the impact of educational reform efforts in Washington State. Individual benefits will be in terms of school and district level (aggregate) findings. (Contains 6 tables, 2 figures and 5 footnotes.)