Two Types of School Reform Efforts

Cuban (1992) describes the two types of school reform efforts:

"School reforms over the last century and a half can be divided into incremental and fundamental changes. Incremental reforms are those that aim to improve the existing structures of schooling. The premise behind incremental reforms is that basic institutional structures are sound but need tinkering to remove defects and make their operations more effective and efficient. In real estate, for example, a fixer-upper is a house in which improvements need to be made but the essential structure (foundation, walls, roof, etc.) is sound. Making improvements is engaging in incremental changes.

Fundamental reforms, on the other hand, are those that aim to transform and alter permanently those very same institutional structures. The premise behind fundamental reforms is that basic structures are irremediably flawed and need a complete overhaul, not renovations. Again, using the house analogy, another fixer-upper might be in such awful shape structurally (the roof leaks badly, the foundation is tilted, termites have destroyed the framing, etc.) that the house has to be bulldozed and the lot scraped clean in order to build a new home." (p. 228)

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