School Renewal: An Inquiry, Not a Formula

Author: Joyce, B., Calhoun, E.
Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Publication Date: 1995, April
Journal: Educational Leadership
Journal Volume: 52(7)
Pages: 51-55

Abstract (written by WestEd)

According to the authors, "School improvement is moving away from highly targeted innovations intended to solve specific problems toward a fluid inquiry into how to make education better day to day. The intent is to make all schools learning communities for faculties as well as students — ” making use of the most powerful models of learning with both groups." Lack of time and structures for inquiry into innovations, participatory decision-making, shortage of information, and absence of a pervasive staff development system all have thwarted school improvement efforts.

"What is now envisioned is a quantum leap toward the creation of a setting where inquiry is normal ... where faculties continuously examine and improve teaching and learning," write the authors. "In this changed culture, school improvement plans are viewed as hypotheses to be tested, not panaceas." Job assignments and schedules must be changed to build in time for collective inquiry. Democratic decision-making may involve all staff in a small school or a leadership team in a large school to consider different perspectives and build ownership. "Inquiry involves collecting, analyzing, and reflecting on data" in a way that integrates staff development and accountability activities into a unified system of a learning organization.

The authors cite many examples of how the study of teaching embedded in weekly staff meetings dramatically improved student achievement; a low-achieving middle school went from 30 percent of students earning promotion to 95 percent, and a high-achieving school district significantly improved student writing. Staff attitudes and beliefs became part of the inquiry as they "proved" that their students could learn far more than they had been expected to learn. Weekly inquiry meetings with easy access to the knowledge base about teaching, curriculum, and technology were key elements. When teachers share responsibility for their own learning and help one another, they become a learning organization on a journey that never ends.