Seeing Complexity in Public Education
Problems, Possibilities, and Success for All
Donald Peurach
Reviews and Awards
"The value of this study reaches far beyond the domain of its specific and intense concern with the reform of public education. It will be an inspiration, a model, and a guide for all who seek to understand how human beings can organize to achieve real progress against the many pressing, large-scale, and complicated problems that beset their societies." -- Sidney G. Winter, Deloitte and Touche Professor of Management, Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania
"Improvement at scale is today's mantra for educational reform. Yet how to build capacity to accomplish this remains largely unknown. No more. Seeing Complexity in Public Education offers a guided tour of the extraordinary design and development efforts of the Success for All program. Great insights are afforded here about both the big ideas and the micro-details that building educational systems, committed to the academic success of all children, will actually entail." -- Anthony S. Bryk, President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
"Essential reading for anyone interested in engaging with the real challenges of ensuring academic success for all! Firmly anchored in his data, Peurach cogently untangles the mesh of interdependent relations at the heart of educational reform, avoiding simplistic solutions while still leaving his reader with a sophisticated understanding of how and why educational reform might be designed differently. In elegant and accessible prose, he takes his reader on a journey through the complexities of everyday practice that are at the epicenter of improving American education. Read this book, and you will be convinced all over again of the power of exemplary case study research in informing our most pressing educational policy and practice challenges." -- James P. Spillane, Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Chair in Learning and Organizational Change, and Professor, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
"This tale truly deserves to be told, read, and understood. Donald J. Peurach's careful analysis is convincing. Success is possible in educational reform when one acknowledges the complexity of the system and builds the reform on solid evidence. Stimulating and insightful research shows that education can be reformed." -- Sakari Karjalainen, Director General, Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture
"Donald Peurach's Seeing Complexity in Public Education a welcome contribution. The work examines in-depth what may be the largest example of scaling up in evidence: development of the Success for All Foundation (SFAF) as it grew from a handful of schools in Baltimore to over 1,500 schools across 50 states and policy contexts." -- BetsAnn Smith, American Journal of Education