The Power of Persistence: Education System ... - EQUIP123.net

over the long term. However, most education policy change has little direct
or immediate impact on school quality, and some has unanticipated—and
sometimes negative—outcomes as other parts of the system adapt to the
new policy.
Reforms are sometimes effected by sweeping changes legislated virtually
overnight, as was the case in establishing Autonomous Schools in Nicaragua.
Though this effort served as a catalyst to change some dynamics within the
system, effective implementation and management of the new system was
a work in progress for 15 years, until the Ortega-led government abruptly
reversed the policy in 2005. This policy change was a reaction to perceived
distortions and inequities in the system attributed to the policy, as well as to
ideological differences. Other policy changes, such as those in Egypt in 2006-
2008, were the result of years of developing agreement and will require many
more years of intense work to enable implementation.
Ultimately, education system reform is a human endeavor that works on a retail
rather than wholesale level; change occurs on a district-by-district, school-byschool
and teacher-by-teacher basis. Teachers and principals, as a group, do
not change fundamental behaviors and mental models on the basis of a new
regulation or training course. Rather, individuals change as they learn and
internalize new ways of working, and gain confidence in their abilities and in
the ‘rightness’ of the changes. Consistent, regular support and reinforcement
are required to enable this kind of change. Careful documentation of reform
efforts and outcomes is indispensable for discerning longer-term trends, and
for identifying opportunities for intervention.
In response to the question “How long does education reform take” the most
appropriate answer is: “That is the wrong question.” Reforms are by their
nature iterative and incremental, and require deep learning and capacity on
a district-by-district and school-by-school basis to become effective. Because
implementation of substantive changes at the school level requires ownership
and capacity in a critical mass of school administrators, supervisors, teachers,
and parents, reforms have long lag times from inception and implementation to
measurable effectiveness.
In the case study countries, the timeframe needed for reforms were as follows:
Egypt: 15 years and counting In Egypt, it is difficult to know when to start
counting reform dates. The initiatives in the 1990s—UNICEF Community
Schools, USAID New Schools, and various decentralization initiatives—laid
the groundwork for future work, and provided a model of successful school-
SECTION 3: SUMMARY fINdINGS ANd CONClUSIONS
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