Center for Research on Vermont
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Changework : Inside Restructuring Schools
October 27, 1998
| Length: | 1:17:11 |
| Next Air Dates: | No upcoming airtimes are currently scheduled |
Program Description:
Robert L. Larson, Education, UVM, discusses restructuring as a concept and practice in business and government which entered the general educational literature in the late 1980s, and soon thereafter came to the attention of Vermont educators. Since then many schools have stated informally that they are "restructuring." This seminar is a report of in-depth field studies in two Vermont schools that had announced formally that they were involved in the process, Caledonia and Chittenden High Schools (pseudonyms). The research demonstrated that what matters most in restructuring is what happens in the classroom. Curriculum, instruction, assessment, and learner standards and outcomes are the key restructuring variables. All of them have an important impact on student engagement, the most pressing and persistent issue facing students and educators. Without engagement in the learning process, little achievement will occur. But in today's school environments attaining engagement is more challenging than ever, calling for most teachers to change in important ways. And systematically restructuring classrooms requires administrative leadership, community and board support, and a dynamic interplay between goals, resources, and policies at the "top" of the organization and focused, thoughtful, and sustained effort at the "bottom" from the educational staff.
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