ABSTRACT
'The more things change, the more they stay the same'. 'There's less real change here than meets the eye'. Comments like these about school reform efforts are common. But, how can this be, considering the bold claims of reformers and the huge array of recent change efforts and reform ideas? This Yearbook addresses this nagging question in light of the mounting efforts to 'reinvent' American education. It suggests that much of the answer about the difficulty of changing schools may be found in insights about the potency of the 'deep structures'embedded in schools as institutions — insights derived from a growing body of social science theory and research called the 'new institutionalism.'
