ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a corollary in the domain of educational reform “all change is local.” It is about how local educators molded externally designed reforms to fit their local contexts. The chapter discusses the technical-rational and co-construction perspectives on local variations in implementation. It describes how context, defined in broad terms, shaped the implementation of reform in the schools we studied. The chapter examines how local structural conditions, including school organizational characteristics, district and state policies, and the composition of the student population, shaped reform. It also discusses how cultural considerations, especially educators’ ideologies about teaching and learning, race, ethnicity, and intelligence influenced how reforms were implemented. The chapter provides guidelines for actions that reform designers and local educators might take together to begin to improve practice based on the findings. Socio-political factors interact with cultural beliefs and practices to shape reform initiatives “on the ground”.
