Abstract
In the 1990s, Lindsay Unified School District, in California’s Central Valley, found itself at a turning point. It was one of the lowest performing districts in state and was experiencing a demographic shift marked by a departure of middle- and upper-class families and an increase in Hispanic students. This resulted in nearly 90% of the district’s 4,100 students qualifying for the Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program—an indicator of economic disadvantage—and 13% being legally considered homeless; 93% of students are Hispanic and 50% are English learners (ELs). These changes presented a major dilemma for Lindsay leaders and teachers, most of whom had little or no preparation to teach ELs. Many resisted the idea that they should be required to teach these learners, while others had the will but not the capacity or resources. (p. 5)
It is against this background that Lindsay’s story of transformation unfolds in Beyond Reform: Systemic Shifts Toward Personalized Learning.
Lindsay’s change process was marked by significant shifts in the beliefs held by system leaders and teachers regarding what an impactful education looks like with efforts to realign deeply engrained individual and institutional behaviors in support of these new beliefs. Beyond Reform provides readers with an authentic and inspirational case study of district transformation. The book focuses on the changes the district made to its model of teaching and learning and the importance of reshaping adult beliefs and behaviors to support these technical changes. It outlines strategies, in particular, how adults were empowered to lead the process, the capacity building strategies of the district to ensure sufficient support, and the mechanism to provide oversight and foster continuous improvement.
The book is equivalent to an autobiographical case study because, like much of the change process it describes, it was written through the collaborative efforts of Lindsay leaders including superintendent, deputy superintendent, director of advancement, and curriculum design specialist and other district staff involved as contributing editors. Chapter 1 describes challenges that motivated Lindsay to begin its journey toward transformation, the strategic design process the district engaged in, and the “future focused strategic design” (p. 10) that resulted. The foundational concepts in this strategic design are then used to frame each of the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 discusses the district’s shift in culture including new beliefs about education Lindsay defined in its strategic design and steps taken to shift the mind-sets of everyone in the district in order to align beliefs. Chapters 3 and 4 outline steps taken to transform leadership and personnel, respectively. They focus on how all adults in the system were empowered to experiment; supported in building new knowledge, skills, and dispositions; and held to continuous improvement. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 shift from culture and adult learning to discuss specific instructional practice and resources put in place. Finally, an appendix includes strategies and checklists informed by Lindsay’s journey that can be used to engage in similar change processes.
One key theme is empowerment of school leaders and teachers. This started with getting highly qualified system leaders and principals in place and building a “necessary foundation of trust” (p. 7). Once this was done immediate instructional interventions, such as a Reading Recovery program, were established. Once these interventions began to deliver results resistance, subsided and additional instructional changes were introduced. The subsequent rise in achievement “sparked community pride and inspired staff members to commit to the district’s effort to improve learning” (p. 9). It was this new cohesion that provided Lindsay with the opportunity to empower its staff and community to lead the change process. This began at the district-wide level with a strategic design workshop attended by around 150 district leaders, principals, teachers, parents, and community members. At this workshop, attendees discussed topics such as why Lindsay exists as an organization and their vision for the future related to learning, curricula, instruction, assessment, technology, personnel, leadership, and stakeholders. These discussions resulted in a set of core values, guiding principles, and vision statements that are still in use today. At the school level, principals and teachers were empowered to be change agents—principals were given great autonomy over their schools’ budgets, schedules, and personnel decisions, while teachers became recognized as leaders within their classrooms.
In addition to empowering educators, Lindsay provided capacity-building supports focused on developing the beliefs and behaviors necessary for change among all district staff from principals to bus drivers. However, the district recognized that teachers were in particular need of support because “leaders were asking teaching staff to disengage from past practice” (p. 56) and to undergo “identity shifts and [adopt] new perspectives about their practice” (p. 57). To address this, staff participated in intensive professional learning experiences focused on performance-based education early in the transformation. Today, summer symposiums continue to build staff capacity and Lindsay is working to build out a full adult learning curriculum. However, this traditional knowledge and skill building was also coupled with more untraditional strategies focused on transforming adult mind-sets and beliefs about education and an educator’s role. One strategy the district used to achieve this was developing a new vocabulary to describe teaching and learning. This vocabulary included the use of content level in place of grade, learner in place of student, and learning facilitator in place of teacher among other changes. In addition, school and district leaders continually messaged the importance of having a growth mind-set and being willing to experiment.
One final theme related to fostering adult learning and change is the importance of maintaining oversight and fostering continuous improvement. The empowerment included oversight mechanisms that ensured alignment between school- and classroom-level decisions and the district mission and vision. The values and principles codified in the district’s strategic design document provided one unifying anchor for this oversight, but the district produced other tools including core value rubrics that provide “a framework for the ideal Lindsay leader, whether that leader is a learner, learning facilitator, administrator, director, or other stakeholder” (p. 47). In addition, leader and learning facilitator rubrics based on the strategic design were developed. These documents all articulate common standards that are an extension of the district’s core values and beliefs. They support adult engagement in the same process of goal setting, feedback, reflection, and learning that Lindsay learners are asked to engage in and foster continuous improvement at all levels of the system.
The accessibility of Beyond Reform makes it ideal for educators and leaders in primary and secondary education as well as policy makers, school support organizations, and philanthropies interested in both igniting and sustaining change in K–12 education. While the book does not actively attempt to build on existing theories related to organizational change, transformational learning, or andragogy, its description of the events that unfolded in Lindsay touches on each and provides an illustration of the importance of shifting adult beliefs and behaviors when seeking to transform a system and reveals how empowerment, support, and accountability can support such shifts.