ABSTRACT
Reform is a perennial condition of schooling in the United States. Whether motivated by apparently poor performance in international comparisons, concerns about economic productivity, or changing conceptions about fundamental knowledge, the public repeatedly asks schools to improve. Reforms spring up to meet each request, often seeming to recycle recommendations from previous decades. Although any attempt to change schools must take teachers into consideration, some past reforms have sought to minimize dependence on teachers. The language of reform encourages teachers to move away from comfortable modes of practice, without clarity about what they should move toward. The current wave of reform combines its call for student understanding with advocacy for greater student engagement in active learning. Reformers also hope that students acquire a desire to continue learning outside school, gain the ability to work cooperatively, and develop their powers of creativity.
