Examining the Timing of Educational Changes Among Elementary Schools After the Implementation of NCLB

Abstract

Purpose: This article examines the timing of changes of key educational process indicators within three groups of elementary schools after No Child Left Behind (NCLB) implementation: schools that met adequate yearly progress targets consistently, schools that entered restructuring due to prolonged academic failure but failed to exit, and schools that entered restructuring status but managed to improve sufficiently to return to good standing. We examine whether the timing of restructuring disrupted routine educational processes in failing schools and whether resulting changes in those processes were associated with the timing of exiting restructuring status. Research Methods: We utilize a time-series design and growth mixture modeling with known classes to identify a set of process changes and context indicators that maximally differentiate the classes of schools according to their NCLB restructuring status. Findings: First, we found restructuring disrupted entrenched organizational routines. Second, changes in teacher views regarding the quality of key school processes such as leadership, instructional capacity, and sustained focus on school improvement were associated with corresponding changes in NCLB accountability status. Implications: The findings reinforce the view that school processes can be changed through intended action—be it external policy intervention or strategic responses of site-level leadership. Our longitudinal examination of changes in school NCLB accountability status over time supports the view that low-performing schools can evolve through a process of reorientation, change, and convergence—a developmental process that can take a decade or longer to unfold from falling into sanction status to climbing out after a considerable period in externally monitored restructuring status.