Chasing the Rainbow:
Nine questions to consider in planning for the future in Cornerstone Schools
(and to make the hair on your neck stand on end)

by Ellin Keene Deputy Director, Cornerstone

I subscribe to a list serv on which teachers and principals interact about working to ensure that everyone in their schools and districts integrates the most promising instructional practices into their daily work with children. Though I don't have time to read the postings every day, I have been more attentive recently as the members have been "discussing" the deterioration of effort (and results) they observe in the wake of new leadership at the school or central office, district, state and Federal mandates and other changes that seem to derail effective school reform efforts. I read these postings with trepidation hopeful that, in two or three years’ time, I won’t read postings from Cornerstone schools, lamenting the regression they have observed following the active stage of the project. I am hopeful that our schools will be able to maintain the momentum for continual improvement that has characterized them in the early stages of the project.

While, at one level, I feel confident that this decay won’t befall Cornerstone schools, I’m painfully aware that if we avoid it, Cornerstone will be among the few initiatives in the history of school reform that doesn’t find itself chasing the rainbow. The schools and districts I have read on list servs and in professional journals too often fall into a trap following a period of intensive learning. They hope (as opposed to act to ensure) that all the right elements will fall magically into place and that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – continuing momentum and support for the changes they’ve made – awaits them. They reason that the hard work is done – they have made significant changes in their own classrooms and schools and have put at least as much effort into ensuring that others caught the enthusiasm for the initiative they had from the beginning.

Cornerstone schools are not alone. American school reform has been plagued by a phenomenon in which professional learning initiatives create a few good classrooms in a few good schools, but see little district-wide replication of practices found to be successful in those classrooms and schools. For reasons no one has comprehensively described in the professional development literature, little attention is paid to these schools’ successes by other schools in their districts, much less by schools with similar needs across the country. Another conundrum occurs when schools initially piloting a successful project fail to sustain the changes they have made when key leadership positions in the school turn over or when the next "answer" is presented and the school staff jumps on that bandwagon. In other words, the phenomena I read about on the list serv is well-documented across the spectrum of school reform in this country. Less well-documented, however, are the strategies schools and districts can use to avoid this quagmire, the questions they must ask in order to sustain success.

From the beginning, Cornerstone's mission has been to build capacity in the schools and districts it serves so that, following the active phase of the project, Cornerstone schools and districts may rely on each other for continuing growth and learning. We have emphasized that a successful school-reform initiative must include a model that accounts for system-wide implementation should the pilot schools achieve the anticipated success. In addition, we have argued that a plan should be in place from the beginning of the initiative that will help pilot schools sustain and continually refine their work following the active phase of the project. In other words, Cornerstone has sought to plan for the end, from the beginning. I wonder, though, do we ask the tough questions – I mean the toughest of tough questions?

We have tried to paint the picture of what a foundation school and district will look like if that model is followed and all goes according to plan. The self-evaluation grid (tool kit ...) is meant to describe the stages schools may experience in preparing themselves for reaching foundation status. We have emphasized the importance of using school review findings and a wide range of other data to breathe life into a continual change process. And, we’ve emphasized shared leadership, knowing that great principals don’t always stay in Cornerstone schools, and hoping we can avoid regression if/when such a person moves on.

Recently I’ve wondered, have we covered all our bases? Are there other tools we might have provided, other ways we can help schools avoid the "chasing the rainbow" phenomenon? It will surprise few that, to answer my questions, I turned to the research to see if scholars and school reform activists have written this problem of sustaining and continuing to develop a project. I paraphrase below four key findings that researchers suggest should be in place if schools and districts hope to sustain the climate for change they began during the active phase of the project. As you read them, think carefully about Cornerstone.

They are:

1. An active, visible partnership with the school district leadership. The superintendent and a professional with curriculum, instruction and staff development responsibilities should be identified and closely involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the project following the project – in other words, the next iteration of the initiative. One or both of these individuals should attend key project meetings such as summer institutes and should work with the initiative’s leaders to develop a plan for scale-up of the project once its success has been established.
2. The initiative should include a plan to prepare excellent practitioners to assume staff development roles in their schools and districts. District officials should agree to direct resources, in the latter stages of the project, toward supporting district or school-based coaches to continue the work provided by the initiative staff during the pilot phase of the work. The initiative should provide specific training, distinct from the aforementioned on-site coaching, for those who will eventually take the reins of the project. This "training for trainers" should begin as soon as potential staff developers can be identified by initiative staff and building leadership.
3. The initiative and school district staff should establish relationships with community organizations including local education funds, universities, social service agencies and foundations in each community it serves. Though these relationships will differ from community to community, the goal of establishing support outside the school district is the same: successful professional learning initiatives are known and promoted in their communities. Those familiar with fund raising and building capacity for community development from such organizations should be recruited to advise school and district personnel about securing funding for initiative activities, sustaining best practices in schools, spreading initiative work to other schools, promoting community awareness about the project and ensuring parent involvement in the initiative.
4. The initiative should work with the school district to develop a model to guide its scale up and replication. A district leadership team comprised of representatives from each participating school and district leaders should discuss this model, revise it as necessary and refer to it frequently. Regular review of schools progress using evaluation data and a school self review instrument will provide information about the degree to which project objectives are being met.

When I sat back after reading the research, I felt momentarily triumphant! Look back over all four – Cornerstone’s model accounts for each. So we’re in fat city, right?! No problem maintaining our momentum, right?! Why do I still have a sense of uneasiness about these questions?

I have come to believe that my unease isn’t lack of confidence about the ability of Cornerstone school and district leaders. It has more to do with a concern that, in some cases, we all continue to avoid the toughest questions and though we might have all the key elements in place, there are still troubling issues we are uncomfortable confronting.

I believe all of the research in the world cannot define nor describe the real qualities that make for lasting change. If we are to avoid chasing the rainbow, I think it means we must continually ask the toughest questions we can imagine, tackle what has heretofore been taboo. I try to imagine the most difficult, yet most important questions school leaders can ask in order to sustain change. I try to imagine what would happen in a school that embraced rather than avoided these most difficult questions rather than chasing the rainbow in some kind of misplaced hope that the toughest issues will somehow dissipate? Try these questions on for size. Think about the degree to which your faculty has had searching, honest conversations about each.

1. What are the most effective literacy practices? How does your leadership team continually maximize their use and minimize less effective practices in all classrooms?
    
2. How do we know children are learning? What is the body of evidence we collect that provides indisputable data that are children are not only learning, but retaining and re-applying what they have learned?
    
3. Do we really believe all kids can learn at the highest levels? How does your school define high expectations for all students? What does that mean, in real detail, to each member of the faculty? Are there regular, probing discussions on this issue?
    
4. Do we really believe all of our colleagues are capable of teaching as well as the best in our building? How is dissent managed? How are reluctant faculty members engaged more fully in the work and shown its promise? Are their opinions respected? Are they allowed to derail the work? If so, what steps are being taken to ensure that they don’t have a deleterious effect on the work?
    
5. Does the principal really believe others can be great leaders too? Can your leadership team ensure that leadership for instruction lives, not only in the principals' office, but among faculty members and parents as well as in the community?
    
6. Do we really believe that parents can provide more than volunteer support or an occasional visit to our classrooms? Is there thoughtful effort to ensure that the stories of parents and community members are woven into children’s learning experiences? When parents are asked for their opinions, are those opinions taken fully into account, though they may contradict existing beliefs in the school?
    
7. Are colleagues in your school producing rather than only consuming knowledge in the field? Are the most accomplished teachers encouraged to elaborate upon, improve upon, be innovative with ideas? Are they encouraged to create new knowledge? Do they write about and present their ideas to colleagues within and beyond your school? Are they responsible for orienting new faculty and families to the school?
    
8. Do all adults experience a challenging intellectual environment every day they come to work? How can your school continue to tap Cornerstone and other resources to help teachers and the principal assume new levels of challenge and scholarly inquiry? Can your leadership team promote continued engagement among faculty members in studying research and understanding complex ideas?
    
9. When faced with an obstacle, do we ask how we can think about this differently rather than adopting a defeatist posture? -- How can coaches, a principal and their colleagues solve the problem, think differently and not accept that they way things have always been is the way things must always be? What kinds of support do we need from our superintendent and district strategy manager? How can we communicate our needs to them rather than assuming their answer will be no?
    

Why have so many promising initiatives deteriorated over time when the players are more than familiar with the structural elements needed for success? Could it be that, even with all of the right pieces in place, we still avoid the most complex questions – those that deal with human beings and their relationships to one another and the families they serve? Might we, at Cornerstone, break this cycle of success followed by disappointment?

I don’t pretend to know that we can do so simply by tackling, with all of our energy, good will and intellect, the questions that most plague us. But I will suggest, with reasonable confidence, that we cannot avoid chasing the rainbow by avoiding the questions.