A Framework for Research on Large-scale Reform

Variation in the success of large-scale reform is afunction of many factors interacting at many ``levels''.Built on a selective review of the evidence aboutlarge-scale reform, this paper provides a framework forexplaining such variation, as well as assessing progressin that direction. Relevant factors influencing reformsuccess, according to the framework, include broad international social, economic and political trends bearing on education, characteristics of national educationalpolicies and strategies for their implementation, and localconditions conceptualized in terms of a model of workplaceproductivity; this model is defined by local practitioners' motivation, capacity, and the organizationalconditions in which they work. This framework has been usedto guide the external evaluation of the National Literacy andNumeracy Strategies.