Larry Cuban

Perspectives on Change: Larry Cuban

I. Incremental Change

Assumptions: existing structures do not need to be changed

Leadership Action:It calls for the leader to improve current practices to ensure "efficiency" and "effectiveness"  within the system

A. Examples of Incremental Changes

 

New positions

 

Improved evaluation tools

 

II. Fundamental Change

Assumptions: structures and processes need to be completely "overhauled"

Leadership Action: It requires for the leader to transform and make second-order changes in order to change the structural framework of the system

A. Examples of Fundamental Changes

 

Establishment of Kindergarten

 

Platoon Schools

 

Cuban's perspectives on the myths for lack of change in schools

 

The public schools give in and adapt to outside pressures, while they "maintain old practices as they invent new one: (p.457)

 

The success of schools is impacted by how policymakers and constituents evaluate public schools

 

Lack of common agreed standards for assessing the success of reforms

 

Examples of changes in public education to assert the myths that schools do not change

 

1. one-room school house to age-grade schools

 

2. desegregation

 

3. increase access of children with disabilities to public schools

 

I. Guidelines for Practicioners to deepen their understanding and think more clearly on educational reform

a. distinguish between change and improvement

 

b. determine the kind of change you want as a leader (incremental or fundamental) and develop a strategy to achieve it

 

c. determine the extent to which adopted changes have been adapted in the implementation process

 

d. use explicit criteria to determine the success or failure of a change

 

e. develop a criteria that is based on degrees of success rather than on a dichotomy

 

f. identify and communicate to others the phase of the change process and assess the degree of success of a change based on the phase (1996, p.82)