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Hess examines why well-meaning school reform efforts so frequently disappoint. Drawing on decades of experience with reformers, it challenges claims that common reforms have fully delivered intended results, especially where evidence is weak. The piece frames reform through three lessons, beginning with the limits of policy: directives can compel compliance but rarely guarantee high-quality implementation. It argues that schools can improve, yet policy often provides a poor mechanism for achieving it.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/lessons-learned-in-school-reform-of-policy-parents-and-practice/590598/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/lessons-learned-in-school-reform-of-policy-parents-and-practice/590598.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Stanley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the author think school reform often disappoints?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"He argues that many reformers are sincere, but their efforts fail because good intentions do not translate into effective implementation. In particular, policy can force actions without ensuring they are done well.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What is the author’s main critique of education policy?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Policy is described as a “lousy tool” for improving education because it can make people do things, but not make them do them well—especially when quality and practice matter more than mere compliance.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why does the author discuss specific reform programs?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"He cites examples such as the Comprehensive School Reform Program and School Improvement Grants to show that research has not consistently found strong learning effects, even when programs were widely mandated.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590598,1792916379,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":81,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":39,"preview_page_count":4},2336477405376,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Lessons Learned in School Reform  \nOf Policy, Parents, and Practice  \nBy Frederick M. Hess  \nI  \nt’s been three decades since I started substitute teaching for beer money in Waltham, Massachusetts, back in the 1980s. It’s been a quarter century since  \nI stopped teaching highschool social studies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It’s been two decades since I first started teaching education policy atthe University of Virginia. And it’s been 15 years since I became a scholar of education policy atthe American Enterprise  \nInstitute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.  \nIn other words, I’ve been in and around schooling for a longtime. And, while I’m not the quickest study, like anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in education, I’ve got a gut reaction to the term “school reformer.”For some, it summons images of heroic  \nFrederick M. Hess is a resident scholar and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Aformer highschool social studies teacher, he has authored numerous articles and books on K–12 and higher education.  \ncharter school leaders. For others, it brings to mind “deformers” bent on destroying public education.  \nFor me? It’s something a bit different: I find myself wondering why the handiwork of passionate, well-meaning people so often disappoints. And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I say all this as someone who, for many long years, has been labeled a school reformer.  \nNow, a few reformers will deny that reform has disappointed. They’ll argue that dozens of new teacher-evaluation systems have delivered, never mind the growing piles of paperwork, dubious scoring systems, or lack of evidence that they’ve led to any changes in how many teachers are deemed effective or in need of improvement. They’ll insist that the conception and rollout of the Common Core State Standards went swimmingly, never mind the politicized mess, half-baked implementation, or fractured testing regime. They’ll tell you it doesn’t matter that the U.S. Department of Education’s School Improvement Grants  \ndidn’t move test scores or that Education Next reports that charter schools are less popular today than they’ve been in 15 years.  \nI’m going to set such claims aside. Having spent a lot of time with reformers over the past 25 years, I can confidently report that most will privately concede that much didn’t workout as hopedoras they’d anticipated. If you think I’m wrong, that things are working out splendidly and just as advertised, then feel free to skip this article and my recent book, Letters toa Young Education Reformer.  \nNow, at this point, there are those who will sigh,“Of course those reforms didn’t work! They were never supposed to!! They’ve all been part of an ideological crusade to undermine democratic schooling and privatize public education.” They’ll argue that two decades of school reform, from No Child Left Behind to Race to the Top, was never really intended to be about improving schools. If this is how you see things, you too will probably want to skip this article. Because, after long experience, I’ve found that the lion’s share of reformers—whatever they get right  \nILLUSTRAT IONS BY CARLO STANGA  \nAMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2017–2018 27  \nor wrong—are passionate and sincere about wanting to make schools better.  \nBut, if we can agree to set aside hyperbolic claims that reform has “worked” and avoid suggesting that missteps are just part of an evil scheme, we can get to the question I want to discuss: Why have good intentions and energetic efforts so often disappointed? What exactly have we learned from all of this?  \nWhat I’ve Learned  \nOn this count, I think I have something useful to share. I want to talk about three lessons I’ve learned along the way.  \nThe Role of Policy  \nPolicy turns out to be a pretty lousy tool for improving education because policy can make people do things, but it can’t make them do them well. And, when it comes to improving schools, doing things well is pretty m","cbCaik51Bm6OJid8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaik51Bm6OJid8","pdf",183605,"English","# What I’ve Learned\n## The Role of Policy\n## Policy as a Blunt Tool\n## Reformers’ Missteps and Evidence","[{\"question\":\"Why does the author think school reform often disappoints?\",\"answer\":\"He argues that many reformers are sincere, but their efforts fail because good intentions do not translate into effective implementation. In particular, policy can force actions without ensuring they are done well.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the author’s main critique of education policy?\",\"answer\":\"Policy is described as a “lousy tool” for improving education because it can make people do things, but not make them do them well—especially when quality and practice matter more than mere compliance.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the author discuss specific reform programs?\",\"answer\":\"He cites examples such as the Comprehensive School Reform Program and School Improvement Grants to show that research has not consistently found strong learning effects, even when programs were widely mandated.\"}]","Lessons Learned in School Reform - Of Policy, Parents, and Practice | PDF",1792069999]