Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education

First Advisor

Susan Korach, Ed.D.

Second Advisor

Kent Seidel

Third Advisor

Linda Brookhart

Fourth Advisor

Roger E. Salters

Keywords

21st century, Learning, Innovation, P-20 Education, Partnerships and pathways, Postsecondary, Workforce readiness, Reform

Abstract

Tyack & Tobin (1994, p. 454) describe that the “grammar of schooling,” like the shape of classrooms, has remained remarkably stable over the decades. This has frustrated generations of reformers who have fought to change standardized organizational traditions. Typically school reform has taken the form of innovations in education. Unfortunately, educational innovations don't usually last long or they were never truly innovations in the first place but rather a repackaging or reintroduction of age-old customary practices.

The “Eos Public Schools” set out on a mission to integrate P-20 educational reform into its overall school system as a way to confront some longstanding 20th century practices and challenge the status quo. One way of accomplishing this was through the creation of a P-20 Educational Campus. Was the district, merely by their intentions and subsequent actions, able to truly innovate the way in which they conceptualized and reconceptualized schooling in the development of the P-20 Campus? How did they “do school” differently? What specifically were the innovations and how significant were they?

This study examined the conception and significance of specific innovations within the creation of the P-20 Educational Campus through case study methodology to tell the story of how this Colorado school district approached P-20 educational reform. A mixed methods approach was used from a review of documents, interview responses combined with survey results. Serving as the conceptual framework for this case study, the key product (goods or services), process (production or delivery methods), organizational (organizational structures, practices, or methods), and marketing (design or packaging) innovations were illuminated.

The research revealed the most significant innovations as the seamless, aligned P-20 Campus system, academic and career pathways, partnerships, and world languages. These significant innovations were accompanied by postsecondary and workforce readiness (PWR), new instructional technologies, the Campus leadership model, fluid movement of students, and plans of study. Specific themes emerged through these innovations: alignment and coherence, choice, connections, opportunities, partnerships, and 21st century learning.

These findings will inform school reformers thinking about how to provide more instructional alignment and coherence toward a seamless, educational system from preschool through postsecondary experiences; to address PWR; and to create critical partnerships among P-12 education, higher education, and the community and industry.

It is too soon to tell if these findings were enough to truly reshape the “grammar of schooling.” However, when considering innovations in education, these findings revealed the need for systemic structures to promote educational innovation for the 21st Century.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Richard R. Patterson

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

313 p.

Discipline

Education policy, Education, Educational leadership

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