The dichotomy between large-scale reform rhetoric and the perceptions of school-based practitioners

Abstract

The current wave of educational reform is closely associated with increased accountability and external control over high-stakes student testing. Often, within political rhetoric, increases in student scores on external tests become the measurement for school improvement. Yet, such rhetoric and reliance on external test results can run contrary to the conceptions of school improvement held by school staffs. School level practitioners may understand school improvement to include collegiality, professional learning communities, processes of change, and school culture. Currently, we are investigating the school district's role in facilitating school improvement through studying the actions of two Ontario school districts. The differences in perceptions of school improvement listed above became very apparent when we asked over 100 participants two questions: 1. what were their personal definitions of school improvement and 2. what were their perceptions of the school improvement definition held by their school district. In both school districts, the practitioners reported that their school district was primarily interested in increasing student test scores while the participants were personally more interested in improving school culture, student attitudes and relationships. This dichotomy influences the perspectives of teachers and school administrators and thus can shape their responses to school reform. After exploring the issues conceptually, this chapter examines these different perceptions in our research data and then considers what these perceptual discrepancies might mean for the related political rhetoric and implementation of large-scale reform. © 2005 Springer.