Educational Reform in the 1980s: Explaining Some Surprising Success

In this article, issues of success and failure of Wave 1 reform initiatives are explored. The paper begins with a review of the financial, political, and organizational factors that are often used to support the position that the types of reform measures common in the early and mid-1980s are likely to result in few substantive improvements. Next, the argument is made that the educational reform recommendations have been more successful than anticipated. Finally, some speculations as to the reasons for this unexpected outcome are presented. Particular attention is given to the changing nature of the conditions upon which claims for failure were predicated.