Two Models of School Structure

In schools there is a systemic interplay between organizational and pedagogical elements. Change efforts must encompass all of those elements at one and the same time. Elmore’s (1995) conclusion from his knowledge of the existing literature on school change was that changes “in structure are weakly related to changes in teaching practice, and therefore structural change does not necessarily lead to changes in teaching, learning and student performance” (p. 25). Elmore cited the sad example of a teacher whose reaction to being able to teach a 90 minute class instead of a 45 minute class was that now he would be able to show the entire movie to the students instead of just half of it. That is precisely why we present here a set of interrelated elements needing change, including methods of teaching, if teaching and learning are to be affected positively by a change effort.