Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Pushing against the grain: Networks and their systems for sustaining and spreading deeper learning

  • Published:
Journal of Educational Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Scholars and educators have long considered how schools can foster deep learning that supports the academic success and holistic development of all students. Yet, with the grammar of schooling that governs U.S. schools, educators often encounter institutional, political, and normative barriers that stifle efforts to redesign school environments, making substantive change fleeting and even sustaining practices that are antithetical to what research has identified as meaningful and enriching pedagogy. Given the elusiveness of change, this study learned from organizations that have managed to push against these trends in reform. Using a nested case study design, researchers examined the systems and structures three school networks built and leveraged to instantiate and sustain “deeper learning” in their schools across the U.S. Data suggests that the networks attended to multiple and reinforcing dimensions of scale in growing their schools. These included securing policies and developing infrastructure necessary for long-term success, cultivating local partnerships and buy-in, implementing rich professional learning systems, and maintaining an adaptative orientation to address local needs and emerging challenges.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The interview sample included 26 individuals affiliated with BPL, 16 individuals affiliated with Internationals, and 21 affiliated with NTN.

  2. For BPL, researchers visited school sites in Burien, WA (est. 2005) and Nampa, ID (est. 2015). For Internationals, researchers visited schools in San Francisco, CA (est. 2009) and New York, NY (est. 2013). For NTN, researchers visited two sites in South Carolina—on established 2013 and the other in 2014.

  3. Because networks schools are typically designated as traditional public schools, school employees are subject to the parameters in local Collective Bargaining Agreements, including those pertaining to hiring.

References

  • Arnold, K., & Mihut, G. (2020). Post-secondary Outcomes of Innovative High Schools: The Big Picture Longitudinal Study. Teachers College Record, 122(8), 1–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berends, M., Bodilly, S. J., & Kirby, S. N. (2002). Facing the Challenges of Whole-School Reform [Product Page]. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1498.html

  • Bitter, C., Taylor, J., Zeiser, K. L., & Rickles, J. (2014). Providing Opportunities for Deeper Learning. Findings from the Study of Deeper Learning Opportunities and Outcomes: Report 2 (p. 38). American Institutes for Research

  • Bloom, H. S., & Unterman, R. (2014). Can Small High Schools of Choice Improve Educational Prospects for Disadvantaged Students?: Improving Educational Prospects for Disadvantaged Students. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 33(2), 290–319. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21748

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, C. P., & Pas, E. T. (2011). A Statewide Scale Up of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Description of the Development of Systems of Support and Analysis of Adoption and Implementation. School Psychology Review, 40(4), 20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, J., & Dede, C. (2009). Design for Scalability: A Case Study of the River City Curriculum. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(4), 353–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-009-9156-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coburn, C. E. (2003). Rethinking Scale: Moving Beyond Numbers to Deep and Lasting Change. Educational Researcher, 32(6), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X032006003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D. K., & Mehta, J. D. (2017). Why Reform Sometimes Succeeds: Understanding the Conditions That Produce Reforms That Last. American Educational Research Journal, 54(4), 644–690. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217700078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D. K., Peurach, D. J., Glazer, J. L., Gates, K. E., & Goldin, S. (2013). Improvement by Design: The Promise of Better Schools. University of Chicago Press

  • Cremin, L. A. (1961). The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education, 1876–1957. British Journal of Educational Studies, 10(1), 106–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darling-Hammond, L., & Adamson, F. (2014). Beyond the Bubble Test: How Performance Assessments Support 21st Century Learning (1 edition). Jossey-Bass

  • Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B., & Osher, D. (2019). Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied Developmental Science, 0(0), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darling-Hammond, L., Ross, P., & Milliken, M. (2006). High School Size, Organization, and Content: What Matters for Student Success? Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2006(1), 163–203. https://doi.org/10.1353/pep.2007.0001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Datnow, A., Borman, G., & Stringfield, S. (2000). School Reform Through a Highly Specified Curriculum: Implementation and Effects of the Core Knowledge Sequence. The Elementary School Journal, 101(2), 167–191. https://doi.org/10.1086/499663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deeper Learning Competencies (2013). Hewlett Foundation. https://www.hewlett.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Deeper_Learning_Defined__April_2013.pdf

  • Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Graczyk, P. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2003). Implementation, Sustainability, and Scaling Up of Social- Emotional and Academic Innovations in Public Schools. School Psychology Review, 32(3), 19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ertmer, P. A., & Simons, K. D. (2006). Jumping the PBL Implementation Hurdle: Supporting the Efforts of K–12 Teachers. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1005

  • Felner, R. D., Seitsinger, A. M., Brand, S., Burns, A., & Bolton, N. (2007). Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons From the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities About “What Works” in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning Contexts. Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 209–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520701621061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M., Stoudt, B., & Futch, V. (2005). The Internationals Network for Public Schools: A quantitative and qualitative cohort analysis of graduation and dropout rates (p. 87). The Graduate Center. http://internationalsnps.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Fine-Report-for-Web-and-Print.pdf

  • Friedlaender, D., Burns, D., Lewis-Charp, H., Cook-Harvey, C., Zheng, X., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2014). Student-centered schools: Closing the opportunity gap. Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/scope-pub-student-centered-research-brief.pdf

  • Fullan, M., Quinn, J., & McEachen, J. (2017). Deep Learning: Engage the World Change the World. Corwin Press

  • Geier, R., Blumenfeld, P. C., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Fishman, B., Soloway, E., & Clay-Chambers, J. (2008). Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reform. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(8), 922–939. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, E. D. (2010). The Schools We Need: And Why We Don’t Have Them. Anchor Books

  • Huberman, M., Bitter, C., Anthony, J., & O’Day, J. (2014). The Shape of Deeper Learning: Strategies, Structures, and Cultures in Deeper Learning Network High Schools (p. 46). American Institutes for Research

  • Immordino-Yang, M. H., Darling-Hammond, L., & Krone, C. R. (2019). Nurturing Nature: How Brain Development Is Inherently Social and Emotional, and What This Means for Education. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 185–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1633924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Internationals Network (2020). Annual Report. Internationals Network. https://www.internationalsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Intls_Network_AnnualReport2020_V6.pdf

  • Istance, D., & Paniagua, A. (2019). Learning to Leapfrog: Innovative Pedagogies to Transform Education (p. 80). Center for Universal Education at Brookings

  • Jaffe-Walter, R., & Lee, S. J. (2011). “To Trust in My Root and to Take That to Go Forward”: Supporting College Access for Immigrant Youth in the Global City. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 42(3), 281–296. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2011.01132.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokotsaki, D., Menzies, V., & Wiggins, A. (2016). Project-based learning: A review of the literature. Improving Schools, 19(3), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480216659733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, S. M. (2012). Grounded theory and the constant comparative method: Valid research strategies for educators. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 3(1), 83–86. https://doi.org/10.10520/EJC135409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in US schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O., & Luykx, A. (2005). Dilemmas in Scaling Up Innovations in Elementary Science Instruction With Nonmainstream Students. American Educational Research Journal, 42(3), 411–438. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312042003411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, V. E., & Smith, J. B. (1995). Effects of High School Restructuring and Size on Early Gains in Achievement and Engagement. Sociology of Education, 68(4), 241. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loveless, T. (2013). The Banality of Deeper Learning. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-banality-of-deeper-learning/

  • Lynch, S. J., Burton, E. P., Behrend, T., House, A., Ford, M., Spillane, N., Matray, S., Han, E., & Means, B. (2018). Understanding inclusive STEM high schools as opportunity structures for underrepresented students: Critical components. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(5), 712–748. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, M. W., & Mitra, D. (2001). Theory-based Change and Change-based Theory: Going Deeper, Going Broader. Journal of Educational Change, 2(4), 301–323. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014616908334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeod, S., Shareski, D., & Ferriter, W. M. (2017). Different Schools for a Different World (Reprint edition). Solution Tree Press

  • Mehta, J. D. (2013). From Bureaucracy to Profession: Remaking the Educational Sector for the Twenty-First Century. Harvard Educational Review, 83(3), 463–488. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.83.3.kr08797621362v05

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehta, J., & Fine, S. (2015). The Why, What, Where, and How of Deeper Learning in American Secondary Schools-Students at the Center: Deeper Learning Research Series (p. 32). Jobs for the Future

  • Mehta, J., & Fine, S. (2019). Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School. Harvard University Press. https://www.amazon.com/Search-Deeper-Learning-Remake-American/dp/0674988396

  • Mergendoller, J. R., & Thomas, J. W. (2001). Managing project based learning: Principles from the field. Buck Institute for Education

  • Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (2019). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (4th ed.). Sage Publications

  • Morel, R. P., Coburn, C., Catterson, A. K., & Higgs, J. (2019). The Multiple Meanings of Scale: Implications for Researchers and Practitioners. Educational Researcher, 48(6), 369–377. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19860531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakes, J. (1992). Can tracking research inform practice? Technical, normative, and political considerations. Educational Researcher, 21(4), 12–21. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X021004012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osher, D., Cantor, P., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2018). Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development. Applied Developmental Science, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2017.1398650

  • Osher, D., Kidron, Y., Brackett, M., Dymnicki, A., Jones, S., & Weissberg, R. P. (2016). Advancing the Science and Practice of Social and Emotional Learning: Looking Back and Moving Forward. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 644–681. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16673595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research and evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (Fourth edition). SAGE Publications, Inc

  • Payne, C. M. (2008). So much reform, so little change: The persistance of failure in urban schools. Harvard Education Press

  • Pellegrino, J. W., & Hilton, M. L. (Eds.). (2013). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. National Academies Press

  • Rickles, J., Zeiser, K. L., Mason, J., & Garet, M. S. (2016). Deeper Learning and High School Graduation: Is There a Relationship? Findings from the Study of Deeper Learning Opportunities and Outcomes: Report 4 (p. 32). American Institutes for Research

  • Rincón-Gallardo, S., & Fullan, M. (2016). Essential features of effective networks in education. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 1(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-09-2015-0007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sisken, L. S. (2016). Mutual adaptation in action. Teachers College Record, 118(13), 1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sizer, T. (1986). Rebuilding: First Steps by the Coalition of Essential Schools. The Phi Delta Kappan, 68(1), 38–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Stringfield, S., & Datnow, A. (1998). Scaling up school restructuring designs in urban schools. Education and Urban Society, 30(3), 269–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyack, D. B. (1974). The one best system: A history of American urban education. Harvard University Press

  • Tyack, D., & Cuban, L. (1995). Tinkering toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform. Harvard University Press. https://www.amazon.com/Tinkering-toward-Utopia-Century-Public/dp/0674892836

  • Warner, M., Caspary, K., Arshan, N., Stites, R., Padilla, C., Patel, D., McCracken, M., Harless, E., Park, C., Fahimuddin, L., & Adelman, N. (2016). Taking Stock of the California Linked Learning District Initiative: Seventh-Year Evaluation Report, Executive Summary. SRI International. https://www.sri.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/lly7_executive_summary.pdf

  • Washor, E., & Mojkowski, C. (2013). Leaving to Learn: How Out-of-School Learning Increases Student Engagement and Reduces Dropout Rates (Illustrated edition). Heinemann

  • Yang, R., Zeiser, K. L., & Siman, N. (2016). Deeper Learning and College Enrollment: What Happens After High School? (p. 8). American Institutes for Research

  • Yin, R. K. (2013). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage Publications

  • Zeiser, K. L., Taylor, J., Rickles, J., Garet, M. S., & Segeritz, M. (2014). Evidence of Deeper Learning Outcomes (p. 38). American Institutes for Research. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/Report_3_Evidence_of_Deeper_Learning_Outcomes.pdf

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported with funding provided by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1530 Page Mill Road, Suite 250, 94304, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Laura E. Hernández, Linda Darling-Hammond, Julie Adams, Kathryn Bradley & DeAnna Duncan-Grand

Authors
  1. Laura E. Hernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Linda Darling-Hammond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Julie Adams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kathryn Bradley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. DeAnna Duncan-Grand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura E. Hernández.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hernández, L.E., Darling-Hammond, L., Adams, J. et al. Pushing against the grain: Networks and their systems for sustaining and spreading deeper learning. J Educ Change 24, 871–895 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-022-09467-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-022-09467-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation