The purpose of this research study is to investigate and gain understanding of the factors contributing to development of the Center for Advanced Learning (CAL), a regional collaborative educational reform project and the partnerships that emerged from that process. The development process and partnerships are examined from a systems thinking perspective. This study was guided by the following research questions: 1) Why did representatives from the private sector choose to partner with the CAL? 2) Why did some potential partners choose not to partner with the CAL? 3) What are the systems components that contributed to developing this collaborative educational reform project? 4) How do elements of the developmental systems encourage sustained progress? 5) How do educational and private sector systems interact and contribute to development of this project? The study participants included high school and college faculty and administrators, university faculty, and representatives from the private sector and governmental agencies. A total of 17 interviews were conducted and 469 CAL related documents were cataloged and analyzed. The overall findings indicate the project evolved through self-organization and self-regulation. The conclusions are: 1) the ability to sustain development of CAL as an educational reform project in a living systems paradigm rather than from a linear and directed approach required flexibility, understanding, trust, confidence, and time to allow autopoiesis to occur, 2) CAL partnerships evolved in a dynamic manner compared with partnerships described in the literature, 3) motivations to partner with CAL were the result of environmental factors and strange attractors, and 4) adaptive leadership in development of the CAL played an important role. Implications of the study suggest that: 1) systems awareness considerations by participants provides an increased degree of developmental flexibility, 2) the manner in which a vision is disseminated is key to developing momentum, and 3) curriculum development in a complex environment could be managed with systems considerations. / Graduation date: 2004

This qualitative study examined organizational change including the necessary steps that a large school district took in planning and implementing a reform effort. This project told a story of one school district's experience. The study covered a five year period from 1990 to 1995 in the 30,000 student Salem-Keizer School District of Salem, Oregon. The examination included a description of school board action in 1989 where a staff recommendation to reform middle schools and move sixth graders to middle schools with a seven-eight grade configuration was denied. The study then continued with an examination of the change process during which sixth graders were moved to middle schools, reforms were implemented, three new schools were opened and five schools were remodeled to accommodate the new programs. This reform, however, was not without problems. Those issues were discussed in the study. The retrospective part of the study reflected upon the project through the analysis of district documents and the results of nine field interviews of middle school principals using a set of seven questions designed to reveal the principals' perceptions of the process. The study then triangulated the results of the interviews by examining information from a focus group comprised of Salem-Keizer curriculum directors and staff development specialists who were asked the same seven questions. The study answered the questions: "Did the district do what the community asked it to do in creating middle schools that afford students a more effective educational program?" and "What are the implications for the district in undertaking a major reform effort?" Themes that emerged from the study included the following: organizational change is highly personalized; change should have a literature and research foundation; stakeholders must participate in the change process; communication must be consistent and must be "two way"; one person must be the individual in charge of the change; a change process requires vigilance, constant reevaluation and refinement; staff development is crucial in a change process; and if a district wants new thinking, then new people must help in organization change. / Graduation date: 1997

When Oregon voters passed the property tax limitation initiative, Measure 5, and the state legislature enacted school reform under the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century during the 1990-91 school year, the trajectory of public schooling in the state changed significantly. After Oregon's tax revolt, the state legislature also enacted legislation that equalized school funding throughout the state. The combination of equalization and the Measure 5 step-down to the $5 per $1000 tax limitation led to a decrease in statewide school funding over the decade. Many wealthy urban districts experienced years of budget cuts, while rural districts received additional funding. Despite differences in school funding, teachers emphasized the importance of student teacher relationships for teaching and learning. This thesis traces the history, passage, and implementation of these pieces of legislation and evaluates the impact of school funding and school reform, two simultaneous but uncoordinated movements, on the school system in the state. Through historical research and oral history interviews with teachers from the large urban district, Portland Public School, and the small rural district, Nyssa School District, this thesis demonstrates that teachers experienced school reform similarly. When school reform implementation relied upon teachers' collaboration to align, develop, and assess curriculum, teachers embraced change. However, when school reform shifted from outcome-based to standards-based, teachers disengaged from the reform process. They rejected reform when standardized testing drove the curriculum, was deemed irrelevant to the lives of their students, utilized inauthentic assessment, did not treat teachers as professionals, and disregarded teachers' knowledge and skills. Teachers viewed their profession as a craft and disagreed with a business model of schools. Taken together, however, school funding and school reform led to a more uniform school system centralized by the state.