Articles, Speeches, and Presentations

> Main Resources Menu

---

• Commentary: The Human-Resource Factor
  by Joseph DeStefano & Ellen Foley
  Education Week (April 16, 2003)
  Getting – and keeping – good teachers in urban districts.
  The piece highlights the work of the School Communities that Work task force and the concerted efforts and strategies of Boston, Houston, and Montgomery County districts on developing aspects of their human resources environment to "create the context for success."
  Complete Commentary [Requires EdWeek free login]
  
  
  
• Toward Success at Scale
  by Tom Vander Ark
  Phi Delta Kappan (December 2002)
  This article outlines the strategic choices that district leaders must face as they attempt to steer their systems toward success. He names the Annenberg Institute as one of two organizations researching the issue of scale – "the most important question in American Education" (p. 6).
  Go to Phi Delta Kappan article
  
  
  
• The District Role in Turning Around Low-Performing Schools
  Testimony (delivered February 27, 2002)
  Marla Ucelli, director of School Communities that Work, testified before the California Legislature's Assembly Select Committee on Low-Performing Schools. The message was that efforts to turn around low-performing schools will not reach enough schools or be sustained unless they pay attention to the capacity-building role of districts.
  Read the testimony
  
  
  
• Success by Design
  Presentation (January 25, 2002)
  Warren Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute, delivered the keynote presentation "Success by Design" at the National Conference for America's Choice, one of the New American School Designs. Viewable in both graphic and text formats.
  Go to the table of contents to begin the PowerPoint presentation.
  
  
  
• Contradictions and Control in Systemic Reform: The Ascendancy of the Central Office under Children Achieving
  by Ellen Foley
  Philadelphia: Consortium for Policy Research in Education (2001)
  This report describes the implementation of Children Achieving, Philadelphia's systemic reform initiative of 1995–2000, from the central office perspective. Identifies key beliefs and assumptions underlying the theory of action of the reform and describes how an initial emphasis on decentralization gave way to more central office prescription over the course of the reform. Describes how context and institutional capacity contributed to the transformation. Ends with lessons for districts implementing systemic reform, noting particularly a flaw in systemic reform. Systemic reform promises both high levels of flexibility at the school site and strong alignment between outcome measures and curriculum, but it cannot deliver both.
  Download PDF [57 p., 225 KB]
  
  
  
• Central Office Is Critical Bridge To Help Schools
  by Robert C. Johnston
  Education Week on the Web (March 7, 2001)
  Education Week on the Web [Requires EdWeek free login]