The impact of standards-based reform on one high performing high school

Education in the US has been transformed by the most current wave of education reform. Standards-based reform has gripped the nation\u27s schools, influencing federal laws such as the No Child Left Behind Act, and state accountability systems. The goals of current standards-based reform policies are clear; set high academic standards, develop tools or assessments to measure students\u27 acquisition of those standards, and hold schools accountable for improving student achievement. Even though the goals of standards-based reform are clear, less is known about its impact on individual schools and even less is known about standards-based reform\u27s impact on high performing high schools. This investigation shed light on the implementation of standards-based reform at one high performing high school. Using case study methods, the investigation sought to understand how standards-based reform focused goals on student achievement and prompted curricular and instructional change. During the 2007-2008 school year, 29 school administrators and teachers were interviewed and relevant documents were collected. Analysis of transcribed interviews and documents showed a coherent and coordinated administrative response and a more fragmented and differential response by teachers to standards-based reforms. Administrators readily articulated standards-based reform goals and worked to implement policies aimed at improving standards-based test scores. From 1998-2009, administrators coordinated the alignment of curriculum to standards, initiated the implementation of test preparation activities, and created staff development programs that were standards-based. High school teachers articulated a variety of goals and instituted instructional changes that were not directly attributed to standards-based reform but complemented standards-based reform goals. Overall, implementing standards-based reform highlighted a definition of quality schooling that favored the strong academic emphasis already in existence in the high school. Even though the curriculum for the entire school was affected by the alignment to state standards, standards-based reform\u27s greatest impact was on the school experience of lower performing students