Changing Schools from the Inside Out

Public education's critics and cynics see schools today as hopelessly resistant to change, antiquated and staffed by uncaring people. The second edition of Changing Schools from the Inside Out, by Robert L. Larson, a professor of education at the University of Vermont, assures us that "educators have a great responsibility to seek new opportunities" to improve schools.

This book reminds us that change is occurring all the time. As long as people care about students and their education, they will continue to work to improve schools. Big change is often the result of little changes. And schools change most meaningfully from the inside out.

While superintendents learned about schools as organizations during their graduate work, Larson updates the theories. He examines closely the roles of principals and teachers, and he provides a plausible base for realistic change through a strategy of small wins. He also discusses site-based management and restructuring extensively.

Most graphic is the author's metaphor on decision making. Organizational decisions, he says, are made commonly through "choice opportunities." Larson likens these opportunities to a garbage can, a collection device for the streams of problems, concerns, interests and potential solutions that come our way each day. He effectively makes his case that most meaningful school changes are relatively imperceptible, yet they are what make schools better.

(Changing Schools from the Inside Out, by Robert L. Larson, Technomic Publishing Co., Lancaster, Pa., 1999, 203 pp. with index, $35.95 softcover. Available from AASA Distribution Center, P.O. Box 411, Annapolis Jct., Md. 20701-0411. Toll-free: 888-782-2272 or 301-617-7802, Stock #90-005)

COPYRIGHT 1999 American Association of School Administrators
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group