A case study of implementing the Johnson City Model in three New York City schools

This study was concerned with the implementation of a model, the Johnson City-Outcomes Driven Developmental Model in three New York City schools. The research questions investigated were: (1) Was the Johnson City Model able to be replicated for these three schools? Did the participants understand the process? If not, why not? (2) Given the circumstances they were confronted with, how did they implement this model? (3) What was attributed to the success/failure for implementation? (4) What were the organizational obstacles/supports for implementation? (5) Was the adaptation of this model to be encouraged in other schools? This was a case study, using qualitative research guided by categories developed in the effective schools research. These were: school leadership, school climate, and shared decision-making. Since staff development activities and outcome-based education were necessary for the implementation of the model, they were also investigated. Each school was studied separately to see if positive change occurred and if the implementation of the model could be institutionalized. Participants were observed during all phases of the training and in their classrooms. All of the participants were interviewed both formally and informally. A pre- and post-profile instrument, the ODDM Profile Instrument, was administered to ascertain if participant perceptions changed due to the process. The training and the implementation of the process were studied from February 1988 through November 1989. During this time implementation continued in two of the three participating schools and discontinued in one of them. More concentrated training was crucial to the eventual institutionalization of the process in the remaining two schools along with additional support from the district. The findings of this researcher support those correlates of the effective schools: orderly climate; high expectations for students; an emphasis on basic skills; strong instructional leadership; shared decision-making; and on-going and frequent assessing and monitoring