School Effectiveness and National Reform
Abstract
School Effectiveness and National Reform Daniel U. Levine, University of Nebraska, Omaha Allan C. Ornstein, Loyola University, Chicago The demand for greater educational effec- tiveness in the 1980s generated numerous research studies, discussion papers, and school and district improvement plans. Authors of various studies often define effectiveness at least partly in terms of outstanding student achievement. In the following sections we describe important findings from the reports, programs, and studies of the past decade. Many attempts to increase school effective- ness are under way. Educators in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Memphis, New York, and elsewhere are trying to create more successful schools by introduc- ing practices identified in effective schools research. Departments of education in California, Connecti- cut, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, and other states are providing services to help low-performing schools become more effective. Evaluation of Effective Schools Research When evaluating research on effective schools, one should keep several points in mind. First, confusion conceming the definition of an effective school is widespread with nearly as many definitions of effective schools as people discussing them: a school with unusually high academic achievement (taking account of social class); a self- renewing school identifying and solving internal problems; a school