Understanding change for effective school improvement initiatives:critical elements of school reform.

Abstract

With the historical political and social changes, which ultimately affect education, it is easy to see why teachers sometimes balk at new initiatives and perceived new best practices. For change to occur it is important to understand how perception of critical elements of change impact student academic growth. It is also important to have a clearer picture of the level of implementation of critical elements of change. It is evident there are statistically significant relationships between successful school change predictors and the criterion variables, belief that the rationale of the change initiative is important, continued support of the change initiative, success of professional development embedded in the change process, and strong lines of communication at all levels. The strongest relationships exist between consistent planning for a district-wide change initiative and the predictor variables: resources are based on the instructional priorities of the initiative, staff strengths are matched with staff responsibilities, resources are used to determine annual priorities for staff learning, teachers work together, sharing what they learn to help others learn more, and free flow of information to staff is evident.