An Analysis of the Concept and Uses of Systemic Educational Reform

Abstract

The concept of systemic reform has become one of the centerpieces of the Clinton administration’s educational policies. In order to clarify the current discussion about systemic reform in education as well as to stimulate additional discourse about its advantages and disadvantages, this article will trace the origin of the idea of systemic reform, place the concept within the context of educational developments in the 1980s and 1990s, and consider how systemic reform is being interpreted and applied by analysts and policymakers today.