So Much Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools

by Charles M. Payne

This frank and courageous book explores the persistence of failure in today’s urban schools. At its heart is the argument that most education policy discussions are disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools, especially those in poor and beleaguered neighborhoods.

Charles M. Payne argues that we have failed to account fully for the weakness of the social infrastructure and the often dysfunctional organizational environments of urban schools and school systems. The result is that liberals and conservatives alike have spent a great deal of time pursuing questions of limited practical value in the effort to improve city schools.

Payne carefully delineates these stubborn and intertwined sources of failure in urban school reform efforts of the past two decades. Yet while his book is unsparing in its exploration of the troubled recent history of urban school reform, Payne also describes himself as “guardedly optimistic.” He describes how, in the last decade, we have developed real insights into the roots of school failure, and into how some individual schools manage to improve. He also examines recent progress in understanding how particular urban districts have established successful reforms on a larger scale.

Drawing on a striking array of sources—from the recent history of various urban school systems, to the growing sophistication of education research, to his own experience as a teacher, scholar, and participant in reform efforts—Payne paints a vivid and unmistakably realistic portrait of urban schools and reforms of the past few decades. So Much Reform, So Little Change will be required reading for everyone interested in the plight—and the future—of urban schools.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Politics, Grad School, Social Work, Social Issues

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2008

About the author

Charles M. Payne is the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, where he is also an affiliate of the Urban Education Institute.

Reviews

[Vel Veeter]

So I work in a failing urban school, and a failing urban school system. This book obviously hits home in many many different ways, because the author, without judging, paints a very accurate picture of the various schools I have worked at within this system and visited through my time in this system.

Payne works through the various ways in which a failing school system under-serves students, parents, the community, teachers, and pretty much everybody else connected with it. It costs huge amounts of money, finds ways to misspend or lose huge amounts of it, employs underqualified or unqualified teachers and substitutes, and doesn’t yield positive or meaningful results.

It’s really hard to work in a school that functions in these ways, not only because I came to the school system in order to try to do good work. I know that I did, but watching the school I work for, watching the most vulnerable students be failed and mistreated, and watching a system, for whom I work and in whose district I live, be a place I don’t think I can send my kids to. And so I am leaving the school for a job in a neighboring district.

Payne delves into the sociology of these different levels of disengagement. There’s an individual psychology in effect at all these different and a whole host of different issues. The obvious source of everything is racism and poverty. Without these two factors, we wouldn’t face these issues, but poverty is hard to tackle for a lot of reasons, and racism is hard to tackle because of a huge cultural drive to maintain white supremacy and deny racism in the same breath.

The cumulative effect is distrust and defensiveness.

[Eleni Packis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very thorough overview of the Ed reform sphere pre-2009, which was very illuminating for me since just about everything I’ve heard/learned about is after that time period. Useful to think about why so many of these silver bullet solutions have failed. I understand why he didn’t want to advocate for any specifics, but I also found myself sort of scratching my head at what the true takeaways were

[Evelyn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this I felt like I was reading words coming out of my own mouth. Charles Payne really gets it right and by doing so authenticates the experiences of those in the field to an outside, pie-in-the-sky audience. Simply written and recommended to all working in the field of education.

[Zahra AlQattan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best thing about this book is how realistic it is.

I am from Kuwait and I can totally relate my experience within the school as a teacher, and outside as a member of the reform program currently implemented, to almost every chapter of the book. The demoralized school faculty, the lack of social capital, teacher's scepticism of every new practice, the instability of leadership position, and the outrageous amount of money spent on the unsatisfactory quality of education are among the p issues we suffer from here in Kuwait. I guess this shows that the problems of systematic education are international.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using real examples of mostly failed school reform efforts (many in Chicago), the author shares a thoughtful and insightful analysis that I found helpful and oddly optimistic. His writing conveys an understanding of and compassion for all of the actors in the messy and important work of education, while still insisting that we continue the difficult work of improving academic experiences for children in urban school systems.

[Aaras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like no other book on education that I've read so far. Avoids the traditional approaches of "pro-charter" or "anti-reform" and instead provides a sociological perspective in examining motivations of stakeholders and tools for success. This is the first book I'd go to when considering how to design an education system.

[Adelaide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noyce book club. I found this to be helpful context for the era before I went into teaching. It was, for instance, interesting to read about standards-based instruction as an intervention rather than a fact of the work. My biggest takeaway was that anything implemented fully for >5 years will have an effect. One of the worst options is to poorly implement an ever changing series of reforms.

[Jenny (jenjenreviews)]

I really enjoyed this. It confirmed a lot of things I already believed were true about the reform system while introducing new ideas.

Also, I couldn’t help but love the amount of snark Payne had when talking about corruption in the education system.

[sharon a grigsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read concerning our urban schools and the current issues that still persist, despite our education.

[zena · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for my urban education course

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for my ED 403 Class (Fall 2022 Semester).

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'd give this a 3.75. it is a well-written, complex account of why so many reforms have consistently failed to bring about greater "change" in urban public schools (which you probably could have figured out from the title). its based mostly on the chicago consortium work, and centers around the idea of "demoralized schools" and irrational organizational culture at all levels of the education system. the book is heavy on centering the problems around adults - i can imagine this book coming across as insulting to practicing teachers; i appreciate that it avoids a deficit perspective when it comes to students (for the most part). generally speaking, payne offers a fairly negative view of the current state of schools and education with few ideas for how to address the problems that he identifies. i do wonder, however, what an updated edition of this book might look like, particularly given the proliferation of market-based reforms since it was published (2008).

[Sarah Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read on ed reform yet. Doesn't provide a silver bullet solution because it doesn't exist and critiques the left and the right equally. Payne offers insightful historical perspective and ultimately argues for working in partnership with teachers, giving them support to implement reforms, allowing time for reforms to produce results, understanding the pathologies of a demoralized school environment, examining the context in which reform takes place, focusing more on excellent implementation of existing reforms rather than constantly developing new ones, bringing parents in to be part of the solution, recognizing the realities of race and poverty but having high expectations for all kids, teaching kids that their opportunities are boundless.

Lots of nuance. No silver bullets.

[Maida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely thought-provoking and engaging discussion exploring the failure of school reform efforts of the 1990's. Payne's thesis is that because so much reform comes from outside of the school (and district) it, and the people behind it, lack a fundamental understanding of the conditions on the ground. Therefore even the most well-intentioned ideas have no hope of taking hold once they hit actual classrooms.

Based on a number of years' experience as a community organizer and working in Chicago schools, Payne then describes what he sees as the conditions at play. Until school reform is willing to tackle issues such as fundamental mistrust among school faculty and a replicating culture of failure, nothing else will make an impact.

[Zahra AlQattan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best thing about this book is how realistic it is.

I am from Kuwait and I can totally relate my experience within the school as a teacher, and outside as a member of the reform program currently implented, to almost every chapter of the book. The demoralized school faculty, the lack of social capital, teacher's skeptisim of every new practice, the instability of leadership position, and the outrageous amount of money spent on the unsatisfactory quality of education are among the p issues we suffer from here in Kuwait. I geuss this shows that the problems of systematic education are international.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Payne straddles the fence, but sometimes that's not so bad. He helped me realize that the conservative sense of urgency (intended or not) combined with the progressive sense that culture change must precede real progress in schools and takes a lot of time is the right blend. Of course, in Harrisburg, Julie Botel and Jerry Kohn did have that blend. As always, it seems a polarized approach simply won't work, because the fight trumps the mission.
He's also good with analogy and that's helpful for my writing.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great book. Payne does a good job of being very objective and honest about what needs to be done and what needs to stop in terms of education and attempts to reform education in America. Perhaps the only possible downside is Payne's inclusion of humorous analogies like "spouting out reforms faster than Baskin Robbins creates flavors." They make the book more entertaining and it feels like more of a conversation than a report of the findings of various studies, but it does also make it seem a bit less professional, although it is clearly well studied.

[Osborneinri]

Superb analysis of why persistently failing schools continue to fail, despite the "best intents" of adults. Payne astutely identifies the myriad ways that adults fail the students in their care -- parents, teachers, administrators. This is a sobering message for those who think that education reform is as easy as snapping one's fingers, firing teachers, or bringing "business sensibilities" to bear on public sector agencies. They too will fail.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhat biased since he was my professor at the University of Chicago, but I think Dr. Payne's book about the state of urban education, particularly in Chicago Public Schools, was thorough, thoughtful, well-organized, well-researched, and provocative. Neither foolishly optimistic or solely finger-pointing and cynical, Payne addresses what hasn't worked, what has worked, and what is needed to make it work. A must-read for any educator, education policymaker, or carer of people.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read excerpts for class, but I enjoyed what I read. I'll admit that I probably liked the book more after hearing Payne speak given that his writing voice is quite similar to the way he addresses a room. His thoughts on school reform are quite interesting though and I am extremely curious to see how they play out in his new role at CPS.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Payne's book explores the educational needs of urban African-American children and has much wisdom to offer. The chapter on "teaching black children" offended some of my African-American classmates who did not feel it was appropriate to offer a different menu of recommendations for black children than for all kids.

[Jamiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides an insightful, yet morbid view into education reform efforts. Essentially Mr. Payne demonstrates that there is not a magic method of reforming the public school, but that it requires leadership, consistency, and time.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Staggeringly good. A tremendous takedown of the variety of reasons it can feel impossible to turnaround failing schools, examining every level. Payne has a great style as well, making this a very enjoyable read.

[Che · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent, concise review of school reform of late. not terribly detailed, but i really like how Payne organizes and categorizes information.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different perspective on school reform, much of it from a sociological (& organizational culture) perspective. I didn't agree with all the conclusions, but it certainly got me thinking.

[Tom Mcguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harsh look at the difficult realities of achieving change, but reminder that true progress is possible--and worth striving for.

[David Bristol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for those who think educational reform is a "just do it" undertaking. Payne presents an in depth and insightful look at the multi million dollar effort to reform Chicago's schools.

[Emily]

Last book of my last class with Dr. Duke.

[Joyce Klipsch farrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book was by far the better half.