NETWORKS AND REFORM IN AMERICAN EDUCATION

Educational reform networks are becoming increasingly important as alt ernative forms of teacher and school development in this time of unpre cedented reform of schools. These networks appear to be a way of engag ing school-based educators in better directing their own learning; all owing them td sidestep the limitations of institutional roles, hierarc hies, and geographic locations; and encouraging them to work with many different Kinds of people. In a study of sixteen educational reform n etworks, we found that they shared organizational themes relating to: (1) purposes and direction; (2) building collaboration, consensus, and commitment; (3) activities and relationships as important building bl ocks; (4) leadership as cross-cultural brokering and facilitating; and (5) dealing with the finding problem. Regardless of their differences , the sixteen networks we studied appear to have in common agendas mor e often challenging than prescriptive; learning that is more indirect than direct; formats more collaborative than individualistic; work tha t is intentionally more integrated than fragmented; leadership more fa cilitative than directive; thinking that encourages more multiple pers pectives; values that are both context-specific and generalized; and s tructures more movement-like than organization-like.