ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the initial efforts of one district in partnership with a local university to design and implement an explicit model of systemic change at multiple levels of the system. It presents the conceptual frameworks that guided the reform design, a multilevel model for system change; presents the context and methods; describes how progress was assessed; summarizes key findings in terms of how the model helped to scale up the reform districtwide; and shares lessons learned about the theory and implications of scaling up reform. In developing the Effective Schools district reform model presented in a case study, three conceptual frameworks guided the design: a systemic perspective, a socio-cultural perspective of learning and professional development and concepts of social and human capital development. The chapter suggests that these frameworks collectively represent processes, procedures and ways of thinking that are needed to scale-up reform.
