12 Nov 2013 ... HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION. A-326. SCHOOL REFORM:
POLICY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP. Fall 2013 Syllabus.
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION A-326 SCHOOL REFORM: POLICY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP Fall 2013 Syllabus Instructor Katherine K. Merseth 310 Longfellow
[email protected] 617.496.3785
Faculty Assistant Susan Kandel 309 Longfellow
[email protected] 617.495.8854
Class meets from 4-7 on Mondays or from 5-8 on Tuesdays plus an additional one-hour, weekly section. Sign up here for Office Hours http://merseth-officehours.wikispaces.com COURSE DESCRIPTION The primary objective of School Reform: Policy, Practice and Leadership is to explore the broad concepts of school reform utilizing the perspectives of policy, practice, and instructional leadership. The course will help students achieve the following outcomes: • • • •
gain awareness of current policy efforts and what others believe about school reform activities in multiple contexts; develop skills of leading change and working with diverse stakeholders with multiple interests; expand knowledge of policies, strategies, structures and systems designed to enhance student learning and school practice; and identify and articulate personal beliefs and perspectives on a variety of school reform policies.
To achieve these outcomes, the course first examines the context of school reform, why schools have been resistant to reform, and how policy ideas are linked to different conceptions of the purpose of education. The course spends several classes looking at school reform policies (school reform “levers”) that are classroom or school-based: pedagogy, curriculum, professional development, and school culture. The class also examines policy reforms that are larger in scale: alternative schools including charters and home schooling, School Turnaround plans and Teacher Performance and Evaluation policies, and alternative teacher education programs. Finally, it concludes by briefly examining issues regarding leading change and leadership skills. Throughout the semester
we stress diverse perspectives about school reform and acknowledge the realities of the current policy swirl.
OPTIONAL TEXTBOOKS Optional texts are available at Amazon.com or Half.com as well as other textbook sources. Optional texts are: •
•
Merseth, K. (1997). Cases in educational administration. New York: Longman Addison Wesley. Contains cases that we will use in class (Best ordered from Half.com)
Fullan, M. (2003). The moral imperative of school leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. A suggested text, not required.
One copy of recommended readings is in Library Reserves in the Gutman Library.
Required readings for the first week of class and ongoing important information are also posted on the course website: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k97097 BE SURE TO BOOK MARK THE COURSE WEBSITE IN YOUR BROWSER AS YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO CHECK IT ON A REGULAR BASIS. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Class Experience Students are expected to attend class and section meetings regularly, read assigned material, and participate in class activities, including case discussions, role-plays, and small group assignments. If you cannot attend class, you must inform your teaching fellow or Professor Merseth prior to your absence. Participation and attendance in class and section meetings are important elements of your learning and represent a component of your final grade. N.B. Class WILL BE held on November 25-26 (Monday-Tuesday before the Thanksgiving holiday) - attendance is required. Anyone absent from class on these dates will receive a reduction in their final grade. Please make your travel arrangements accordingly.
Class Briefs In response to each class’s readings, students will offer a one-page, single-spaced informal memo that will help fellow students, the Teaching Fellows, and instructor prepare for sections and class discussions. The briefs are intended to help students make sense of, or pose questions of, the class readings. The briefs must be limited to one page (and should not take more than one hour to compose). They will not be graded but their completion will be a component of the class participation grade. Student briefs often form the basis for section discussions though their use will vary depending on how each TF would like to use
them. Each week Teaching Fellows will read a random selection of briefs. There will be no brief s for the first class of the course. Out of the remaining 11 class sections you will be allowed four (4) “passes” on the briefs. Thus, we are requiring that out of the 11 remaining weeks’ readings, you submit a total of 7 briefs. These will be reviewed by class members and teaching fellows. Please note, neither Teaching Fellows nor Dr. Merseth can accept faxed materials. Sections Teaching Fellows and sections will be assigned no later than September 13 using a preference for section time that students will submit after September 9 and will be posted to the course website. This is a required one-hour section that will meet each week during the term, beginning after Class 2.
Optional (Early Warning) Feedback Students are invited to submit and optional “argument brief” (no longer than 4 doublespaced pages) on the topics of either week 5 or 6 as an opportunity to have their work reviewed by a Teaching Fellow in order to receive critical feedback on their writing and their ability to make a coherent, cogent argument. We are providing this opportunity so that you have some guidance in persuasive writing for your upcoming purpose paper assignment. Our intention is to give you an opportunity to get this feedback on a low-stakes assignment before you have to compose your high-stakes paper. However this assignment is optional but if submitted, will count toward your requirement of a submission of 7 briefs throughout the semester. Purpose Paper Students will submit 2250 word paper outlining their views on the purpose of K-12 schooling by Tuesday November 12, 2013 at midnight. Students are invited, but not required, to submit an outline of their purpose paper for discussion with colleagues and Teaching Fellows at an informal “refinery” held at Professor Merseth’s home on Sunday Evening October 27, 2013 from 4-7 pm.
Major Project Students in A-326 will complete a major project of their choosing to demonstrate their achievement of the objectives of the course. The project is due Friday December 13, 2013 at Professor Merseth’s office in Longfellow Hall, Room 310. Group projects are encouraged. Since it is important to demonstrate your understandings, students must informally present their nearly complete work in a public exhibition to other members of their section at an agreed-upon section time during the week of December 2, 2013.
Don’t leave your project work to the last minute! In order to document your learning in A326, the project should, through its contents, illustrate your own beliefs and perspectives, an awareness of others’ beliefs and knowledge, and an understanding of strategies in school reform/restructuring.
Evaluation Students may take this course for a letter grade or Pass/Fail. Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation and attendance, the purpose paper, and the project. Rubrics will be provided as guidance to students regarding grading. All assignments must be completed at a satisfactory level in order to receive a satisfactory grade in the course. The weights of the various assignments are: Class and section participation (including briefs) 30% Purpose paper 45% Final Project 25% A-326 COURSE SYLLABUS
Sept 3 (“Mon” class), 10 (“Tues” class)
CLASS 1
School Reform: Where are we? Where are we going? What do we want? Required Readings: Tyack, D. & Cuban, L. (1995). Progress or regress? In D. Tyack & L. Cuban, Tinkering toward utopia: A century of school reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 12-39. (iPac) McCormick, D. & Kahn, M. (1982). Barn raising: Collaborative group process in seminars. Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal, 7(4), 16-20. http://jme.sagepub.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/7/4/16.full.pdf+html
Carter, P. (2009). Equity and empathy: Toward racial and educational achievement in the Obama era. Harvard Educational Review, 79(2). 287-297. http://her.hepg.org.ezp-
prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/l18t23kj16317x0k/?p=82466720da604e12ba22839568f426a8&pi =7
Case Discussion: CASE: Childress, S. (2008) If we blew it up, then we could… Harvard Business School Press. #309-042. (iPac)
Sept 9, 17
CLASS 2 Is it Poverty or is it School Policy and Organizational Structure?
Required Readings (Viewing): Tilson, W. (2012). A right denied: The critical need for genuine school reform. Powerpoint to be viewed before class. http://www.scribd.com/doc/140300665/A-Right-Denied-TheCritical-Need-for-Genuine-School-Reform.
Rothstein, R. (2013). Why children from lower socioeconomic classes, on average, have lower academic achievement than middle class children. In P. Carter, P. & K. Welner, (Eds.), Closing the Opportunity Gap. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 61-74. (iPac)
Ravitch, D. (2010). What I learned. In D. Ravitch, The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education. New York: Basic Books, pp. 223-242. (iPac) Ladd, H. & Fiske, E. (2011, Dec 11). Class matters: Why won’t we admit it? New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/the-unaddressed-link-between-poverty-andeducation.html?pagewanted=all
Case Discussion: Schechter, J. (2012). Expanding access to AP: A path to excellence and equity? An unpublished case study. (iPac) Sept 16, 24
CLASS 3 Why are Schools so Difficult to Reform?
Required Readings (Viewing): Duncan-Andrade, J. (2011, Sept 27). TEDxGoldenGateED - Jeff Duncan-Andrade – Growing roses in concrete [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CwS60ykM8s
The problem we all live with: Inequalities between Boston urban and suburban schools [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.whatkidscando.org/archives/JUNE/school_as_subject/index.html
Cuban, L. (2003). Why is it so hard to get good schools? New York: Teachers College Press. (Library Reserve) Whitman, D. (2009). The achievement gap and education reform; The rise, fall and rise of paternalism. In D. Whitman, Sweating the small stuff: The new paternalism in American schools. Washington, D.C.: Fordham Institute, pp. 10-67. http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED502972.pdf)
Case Discussion CASE: Miller, J. (1997). Dante Alighieri High School (A). In K. Merseth (Ed.), Cases in Educational Administration. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, pp. 151-163. (iPac)
Sept 23, Oct 1
CLASS 4 What is the Purpose of Schooling?
Required Readings: Anyon, J. (1981). Social class and school knowledge. Curriculum Inquiry, 11(1), 3-41.
http://www.jstor.org.ezpprod1.hul.harvard.edu/openurl?volume=11&date=1981&spage=3&issn=03626784&issue=1&
Graham, P. (1984). Schools: Cacophony about practice, silence about purpose. Dædalus, 113(4), 27-57. http://www.jstor.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/stable/20024941
Murnane, R. & Levy, F. (1996). Preparing to meet the future; Skills for middle-class wage; and Five principles for managing frontline workers. In R. Murnane & F. Levy, Teaching the new basic skills. New York: The Free Press, pp. 1-10, 19-51, 62-79. (iPac)
Dede, C. (2011, May). Reconceptualizing technology integration to meet the challenges of educational transformation. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction 5(1), 4-16. http://www.joci.ecu.edu/index.php/JoCI/article/view/121/Dede
Video Discussion (Viewed in Class) Student voices: Are we listening? Student Final Project, A-326 Sudbury Valley School Video.
Recommended/Resources for Purpose Paper (Library Reserve) Merseth, K., Schorr, L. & Elmore, R. (1999). Schools, community-based interventions, and children’s learning and development: What’s the connect? Temple University Conference on Improving Results for Children and Families. Philadelphia: Temple University. (Library Reserve) Willingham, D. (2009, April 7). Why don’t students like school? Teachers College Record. (iPac)
Sept 30 Oct 8
CLASS 5 Common Core Standards: Who Decides What Gets Taught?
Required Readings: Meyer, P. (2013). The history of the history standards. Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute.
http://www.aei.org/paper/the-history-of-history-standards-the-prospects-for-common-corestandards-for-social-studies
Aaronson, L. (2013, July 18). Three easy steps to understanding the Common Core American Enterprise Institute Blog http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/07/3-easy-steps-tounderstanding-the-common-core/
Carlson, D. (2013). Accountability and the Common Core: A story of opportunities and challenges. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute.
http://www.aei.org/paper/accountability-and-the-common-core-a-story-of-opportunities-andchallenges
Closing the Door on Innovation. Why one national curriculum is bad for America: A critical response to the Shanker Institute Manifesto. Issued May 9, 2011. http://www.edweek.org/media/closingthedoor-blog.pdf
New York Times Editorial. (2013, May 27). Caution and the Common Core.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/opinion/caution-and-the-common-core-state-educationstandards.html
McTighe, J. & Wiggins, G. (2012) From common core standards to curriculum: Five big ideas.
http://grantwiggins.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/mctighe_wiggins_final_common_core_standards .pdf
Class Discussion Go to http://www.corestandards.org/ and download standards either for English Language Arts or Math and examine a particular grade level of interest Recommended Readings: Sleeter, C. (2005). Standards, multicultural education and central curriculum questions; and Multicultural curriculum, democracy and visionary pragmatism. In C. Sleeter, UnStandardizing curriculum: Multicultural teaching in the standards-based classroom . New York: Teachers College Press, pp. 5-21; 167-182. (iPac)
Greene, M. (1993, Winter). Diversity and inclusion: Toward a curriculum for human beings. Teachers College Record, 95(2), 211-221. http://www.maxinegreene.org/pdf/articles/downloader.php?file=diversity_inclusion.pdf
Oct 7, Oct 15
CLASS 6 Pedagogy and Classroom Teaching
Required Readings: Freire, P. (1993). Chapter 2. In P. Freire, Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., pp. 52-67. (iPac) Cohen, D. (2011). Improve teaching?
http://books.google.com/books?id=T_kxZlfzRLMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI#v= onepage&q&f=false. Human improvement; Teaching. In D. Cohen, Teaching and its
predicaments . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 4-48. (iPac)
Stigler, J. & Hiebert, J. (1999). Teaching is a cultural activity. In J. Stigler & J. Hiebert, The teaching gap: Best ideas from the world’s teachers for improving education in the classroom . New York: The Free Press, pp. 85-101. (iPac) Haberman, M. (1991, December). The pedagogy of poverty vs. good teaching, Phi Delta Kappan, 73(4), 290-294. http://www.jstor.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/stable/20404620
Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280-298. http://www.metapress.com.ezpprod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/c43481778r528qw4/
Thomas, D. (1985). About teaching and teachers: The torpedo’s touch. Harvard Educational Review. 55(2), 220-222. http://www.metapress.com.ezpprod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/mu2m42q7058k6675/
Recommended Readings Hamilton, P. (1992). Have you done your best? In C. Christensen (Ed.), Teaching and the case method. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, pp. 254-255. (iPac) Oct 21-22
CLASS 7 Changing and Managing School Culture
Required Readings: Evans, R. (1996). The culture of resistance . In R. Evans, The human side of school change: Reform, resistance, and the real-life problems of innovation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 40-51. (iPac)
Bersin, A. (2006). A theory of action for high school reform. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. (iPac)
Kotter, J. (1995, March-April). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), pp. 59-67. HBR reprint 95204.
http://89.248.0.102/upload/Topplederprogrammet/Internsider/Kull9/Litteratur/2.1%20Leading %20Change%20-%20Why%20Transformation%20Efforts%20Fail%20by%20JP%20Kotter.pdf
Case Discussion CASE: Merseth, K. & Tieken, M (2007) San Bernardo High School (A). Cambridge: HGSE. (iPac) Oct 28-29
CLASS 8 Reform Policies: School Turnaround
Required Readings: US Department of Education.(2011). An overview of school turnaround. Washington, DC: US Department of Education. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/sigoverviewppt.pdf Elmore, R. (2004). Doing the right thing, knowing the right thing to do: The problem of failing schools and performance-based accountability. In R. Elmore, School reform from the inside out: Policy practice and performance . Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, pp. 227-259. (iPac) Bloom, H., Thompson, A., & Unterman, R. (2010). Transforming the high school experience: How New York City’s new small schools are boosting student achievement and graduation rates. New York: MDRC
http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/Transforming%20the%20High%20School%20Experienc e%20ES.pdf
Case Discussion: CASE: Holzer, M. (2006). Small schools and big pictures (A). (iPac) CLASS 9 Nov 4-5
Reform Policies: Teacher Evaluation
Required Readings: Kane, T., Wooten, A., Tyler, J. & Taylor, E. (2011, Summer) Evaluating teacher effectiveness. Education Next, 11(3), 55-60. http://educationnext.org/evaluating-teacher-effectiveness /
Grossman, P., Loeb, S., Cohen, J., Hammerness, K., Wyckoff, J., Boyd, D., & Lankford, H. (2013). Measure for measure: The relationship between measures of instructional practice in middle school English Language Arts and teachers’ value-added scores. American Journal of Education, 119 (3), 445-470. http://www.nber.org/papers/w16015
Harris, D. (2011). Using value-added to improve teaching and learning. In D. Harris, Valueadded measures in education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, pp. 171-197. (iPac) Brooks, David (2010, July-August). Teachers are fair game. Atlantic Monthly, 306(1), 41.
http://ezpprod1.hul.harvard.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&A N=51377336&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Case Discussion CASE: Merseth, K. & Schen, M. Time and time again –again. (iPac)
Suggested readings: City, E., Elmore, R., Fiarman, S., & Teitel, L. (2009). The instructional core. In E. City, R. Elmore, S. Fiarman, & L. Teitel, Instructional rounds in education . Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, pp. 21-38. (iPac) NO CLASS WILL BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 11-12 Purpose paper is due at midnight November 12, 2013 Nov 18-19 Schooling
CLASS 10 Reform Policies: Alternative Schooling-Charter Schools and Home
Required Readings: Merseth, K (2009). Building a foundation: What effective schools and high performing nonprofits have to say; Classroom instruction and student outcomes; Stepping back and looking forward. In K. Merseth, Inside urban charter schools (pp. 111-125; 197-226; 227233). (Library Reserves) CREDO, National Charter School Study 2013. Stanford, CA: Center for Research on Education Outcomes. http://credo.stanford.edu
Maul, A. &McClelland, A. (2013). A review of National Charter School Study. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-credo-2013
Martin-Chang, S., Gould, O. & Meuse, R. (2011). The impact of schooling on academic achievement: Evidence from homeschooled and traditionally schooled students. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 43(3), 195-202. Retrieved from http://www.homeed.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Martin-Chang-Gould-et-Meuse-2011.pdf
Moran, C. (2011). How to regulate homeschooling: Why history supports the theory of parental choice. University of Illinois Law Review, 2011. Retrieved from http://illinoislawreview.org/wp-content/ilr-content/articles/2011/3/Moran.pdf
Romanowski, M. (2006). Revisiting the common myths about homeschooling. A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas, 79(3) 125-129. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/TCHS.79.3.125-129#.Ue_tJqwpikc
Additional Readings: Smarick, A. (2013). Big takeaways from CREDO’s 2013 charter study.
http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/big-takeawaysfrom-credos-2013-charter-study.html
Gaither, M. (2009). Homeschooling in the USA: Past, present and future. Theory and Research in Education, 7(3), 331-346. Retrieved from: http://tre.sagepub.com/content/7/3/331
Nov 25-26
CLASS 11 Reform Strategies: Teacher Education and Supporting New Teachers
Required Readings: Howard, G. (2007). White educators and the river of change. In G. Howard, We can't teach what we don't know: White teachers, multiracial schools (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press, pp. 69-86. (iPac) Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. (1999). The teachers we need and how to get more of them: A manifesto. In M. Kanstoroom & C. Finn, Jr. (Eds.), Better teachers, better schools. Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, pp. 1-18.
http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/1999/199904_teachersweneed/teachergrogg.pd f
Kane, T., Rockoff, J., & Staiger, D. (2007, Winter). Photo finish: Teacher certification doesn’t guarantee a winner. Education Next, 7(1) 61-67. http://educationnext.org/photo-finish/ Case Discussion Harvard Fellows for Teaching Report (2010). Cambridge, MA: HGSE. (iPac)
Suggested readings: Berry, B., Montgomery, D., Curtis, R., Hernandez, M., Wurtzel, J. & Snyder, J. (2008, Summer). Urban teacher residencies: A new way to recruit, prepare, develop, and retain effective teachers in high-needs districts. Human Capital: Voices of Urban Education, 20, 1323.
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/FINAL.CREATINGANDSUST AININGUTR.PDF
Christensen, C. & Overdorf, M. (2000, March-April). Meeting the challenge of disruptive change. Harvard Business Review, 67-76.
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hauser/ngoforum/pdf/2013/Meeting_the_Challenge_of_Disruptive_C hange.pdf
Dec 2-3
CLASS 12 The Personal Costs of Leading School Reform
Required Readings: Halvorson, H. & Higgins, T. (March 2013). Do you play to win – or to not lose? Harvard Business Review, 91(3), 117-120) http://hbr.org/2013/03/do-you-play-to-win-or-to-notlose/ar/1
Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2009, May-June). Ten fatal flaws that derail leaders. Harvard Business Review, 87(6), 18-21. http://ezp-
prod1.hul.harvard.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&A N=40210923&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Heifetz, R. & Laurie, D. (1997, January-February). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75(1). HBS Reprint 97106.
http://www.awberymanagement.co.uk/resources/files/HBR_10_Must_Reads_on_Leadership_1_.pd f#page=36
Heifetz, R & Linsky, M. (2002) Introduction; The heart of danger; and The faces of danger. In R. Heifetz & M. Linsky, Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, pp. 1-51. (iPac) Case Discussion CASE: Mt. Everest Case-1996 HBS # 9-202-061 (iPac)
FINAL PROJECT SHARING IN SECTIONS DURING THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 2, 2013 PROJECTS DUE AT 5:00 pm FRIDAY, December 13, 2013 IN PROFESSOR MERSETH’S OFFICE, 310 LONGFELLOW
