Reform stall: An ecological analysis of the efficacy of an urban school reform initiative to improve students’ reading and mathematics achievement

AbstractThis article examines the efficacy of the implementation of a program titled Consensus Initiative [pseudonym] in an urban school district that served 20,000 linguistically, economically, and racially diverse students situated in the northeast region of the United States. Using a research derived ecological framework from the school reform literature, the present study explored how inefficiencies within and across schooling ecologies culminated in what we term as reform stall. This article concludes with a discussion of recommendations that reformers, and districts should consider to increase the prospect of effective implementation of urban school reforms and minimize the likelihood of a reform stall.