Standards Deviation : How Schools Misunderstand Education Policy

Spillane, James P.

ISBN 10: 0674021096 / ISBN 13: 9780674021099

Published by Harvard University Press, 2006

Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 14955397-6

Synopsis:

What happens to federal and state policies as they move from legislative chambers to individual districts, schools, and, ultimately, classrooms? Although policy implementation is generally seen as an administrative problem, James Spillane reminds us that it is also a psychological problem.

After intensively studying several school districts' responses to new statewide science and math teaching policies in the early 1990s, Spillane argues that administrators and teachers are inclined to assimilate new policies into current practices. As new programs are communicated through administrative levels, the understanding of them becomes increasingly distorted, no matter how sincerely the new ideas are endorsed. Such patterns of well-intentioned misunderstanding highlight the need for systematic training and continuing support for the local administrators and teachers who are entrusted with carrying out large-scale educational change, classroom by classroom.

About the Author: James P. Spillane is Professor of Human Development, Social Policy, and Learning Sciences, at Northwestern University.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Standards Deviation : How Schools ...
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication Date: 2006
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Good