ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book focuses on the implementation considerations necessary to make curricular innovation work on a larger scale than that of individual classrooms. It also addresses the leadership dimension so essential to institutionalizing meaningful school innovation. Leadership must also be motivational and even inspirational in schools to lift the spirits of teachers and students who are engaged in the difficult work of enhancing learning. Thus, principals must be aware of the need for honoring the culture and symbolically rewarding the efforts that go on within it. Discipline-specific expertise is needed in the design, development, and refinement of curricula to be used with our best learners. Research-based, packaged curriculum that has been extensively piloted is more likely to be sustained over time and leads to statistically and educationally important gains in student achievement when compared to idiosyncratic teacher-created materials or strategies devoid of content emphases.
