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PERGAMON
ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
POLICY
STUDIES
Education Policy
and Evaluation
A Context for Change
Louise K. Comfort
Pergamon Press
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Copyright © 1982 Pergamon Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Comfort, Louise K, (Louise Kloos), 1935-
Education policy and evaluation.
(Pergamon policy studies on public administration)
Includes index.
1. Education and state-United States. 2. School
management and organization-United States. I. Ti-
tle. II. Series.
LC89.C57 1981 379.73 81-10640
ISBN 0-08-023856-4 AACR2
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means:
electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Printed in the United States of America
Preface
It gives me great pleasure to dedicate this book to Sister Eileen Marie
11
Cronin, who exemplifies in her personal and professional life the role of
"change agent in educational policy and practice discussed in this book.
One of the difficulties of using abstract concepts from theoretical
literature to interpret the tangle of events and relationships involved in
the daily operation of the schools is to demonstrate to one's audience
exactly what that concept "looks like" in actual practice. The concept
of "change agent" has been used in the theoretical literature on
innovation to explain the complex, but highly important role of com-
municating the values, knowledge, motivation and vision of an alterna-
tive state essential to mobilizing others to take constructive action for
change. Sister Eileen Marie Cronin illustrates this role vividly through
her long and distinguished career as an educator.
The precise characteristics of a change agent are still under
discussion in the theoretical literature. The role clearly involves
leadership and inviting and obtaining the willing participation of others
in the achievement of a common goal. Perhaps most essential is the
ability to synthesize information from disparate sources and to trans-
late it into a form which is both understandable and practical for
collective action. Other qualities important to this role, are courage,
dedication, skill and analysis, but the ability to communicate a new
vision of possible action, coupled with a practical sense of how to bring
it about are central. What is clear from the literature is the fact that
this communication is made most successfully through personal inter-
action.
Sister Cronin's influence on educational policy and practice for
children with learning disabilities is evident through her writings, her
teaching, and her projects for educational change. To catalogue them
all is beyond the scope of this brief foreword. The most visible of her
efforts to achieve educational change is the founding of the Ellen K.
Raskob Learning Institute in Oakland, California. This project
vii
viii PREFACE
illustrates the full cycle of phases described by Berman and McLaughlin
in the accomplishment of substantive educational change - initiation,
implementation and incorporation.*
It is rare that we can document so vividly the quiet miracle of
learning as it genuinely transforms the lives of children previously
regarded as slow or difficult students. This miracle occurs every day at
the Ellen K. Raskob Learning Institute. But the initiation of this
miracle through the establishment of the Institute, now a widely
respected educational clinic and center for the study of learning
disabilities operating with a professional staff of 20 members and
serving approximately 800 children per year, represents the vision,
determination, dedication and skill of its founder and first director,
Sister Eileen Marie Cronin. Sister Cronin's commitment to holistic
education, or concern for the development of the whole child -
intellectually, physically, emotionaly and socially - inspired her own
intensive inquiry into the troubling symptoms of reading disabilities in
children. It was her unwillingness to accept without question the
puzzling phenomenon of apparently bright, frustrated children unable to
learn to read that led to her professional exploration of the
characteristics of dyslexia and other reading disorders. Sister Cronin
did not stop at cataloguing the symptoms of reading disorders. She
sought also to devise practical and workable techniques for the
diagnosis and treatment of these disorders as they appeared among
children in public and parochial school classrooms.
Sister Cronin's search for understanding of the problems of reading
disabilities took her into a wide range of learning conditions and
activities, from the observation of patterns of reading disability among
children in inner-city classrooms to specialized study of the phenomenon
of dyslexia in Copenhagen, Denmark, to the completion of her Ph.D. at
the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, with a dissertation analyzing
the diagnosis and treatment of reading problems among grade school
children. Through these various activities, Sister Cronin read, observed,
studied and thought about the complex interaction among intellectual,
physical, emotional and social skills involved in the process of learning
to read. She developed a recognized expertise in the diagnosis and
treatment of reading disabilities.
Not content, however, to allow her increasing knowledge in this
field to accumulate unshared, Sister Cronin sought new ways to
translate her insights into the problems of reading disabilities into
service for children. She started a summer workshop for children from
grades three - eight with reading problems in a small, but charming old
house on the Holy Names College campus in 1953. Here she worked
with a small group of children, observing and identifying their reading
difficulties, devising methods and materials to assist them in over-
coming their deficiencies in learning skills. The workshop was so
successful that it was continued the next year, and the next. It soon
became apparent, however, that the work in which she was involved was
larger than could be carried out by Sister Cronin alone or encompassed
by the little brown house, La Bottega, on the Holy Names College
PREFACE ix
campus. She needed the assistance and participation of others to
translate her ideas into reality. She envisioned establishing a center for
the study and continuing exploration of methods for the effective
diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities. The need was
extensive, and at the time, there was very little assistance available to
either children or teachers for meeting this need under the demands of
regular classroom instruction in public or parochial schools.
Equally as important as treating individual children was the need to
assist classroom teachers in identifying reading disabilities among
children as they appeared in the course of regular instruction. The
scope of the problem and her vision for solving it had already outgrown
the summer workshop, but a new concept and program for the treat-
ment of reading disabilities in children had clearly been initiated.
The implementation of an idea almost necessarily involves winning
the acceptance of that idea with accompanying cooperation and
tangible support from others. To implement her dream of establishing a
center for study and instruction in reading disabilities, Sister Cronin
needed an adequate building, a trained, professional staff, a supportive
administrative organization in which to operate and a responsive
clientele of students and teachers. It is the mark of her performance in
this role of educational change that Sister Cronin succeeded in
persuading others of the value of her dream and that, indeed, the
elements of a professional learning center were put together. She
offered to a wide array of people the opportunity to participate in the
creation of this learning center, and she won their generous and
committed support.
Holy Names College offered a physical location and valuable ad-
ministrative support for the realization of the center. Mr. Robert P.
Raskob, philanthropist and director of his family's Raskob Foundation
dedicated to the furtherance of Catholic charity, offered a grant of
$125,000 to construct a modern building to house the new learning
institute. Talented faculty and competent staff members accepted
salaries at rates less than those paid for comparable positions elsewhere
in order to participate in building a program of excellence in both
instruction for students and training of classroom teachers in this field
of reading disabilities. Grateful parents and enthusiastic teachers in
both public and parochial schools volunteered time and energy to form a
network through the Raskob Auxiliary to disseminate information about
both the program and services available for children and adults with
reading disabilities through the new learning institute. The intricate
task of putting together the theoretical concepts, material resources,
skilled personnel and administrative services necessary to implement a
professional program for the diagnosis and treatment of reading disabil-
ities, as well as the training of teachers to provide these services, was
accomplished with Sister Cronin's leadership and the willing assistance
of countless other people committed to this common goal.
The third phase of substantive educational change, according to
Berman and McLaughlin, is the incorporation of innovative ideas and
techniques in an institutional form which transmutes the innovation into
x PREFACE
enduring educational practice. In founding the Ellen K. Raskob Learning
Institute and in serving as the Institute's director for its first 19 years,
Sister Cronin established the institutional base from which her original
innovative ideas can develop still further. It can, as well, expand in area
of service to children, adults and training of teachers to the total field
of learning disabilities through the capable work of a carefully selected
professional staff. The expansion of the work of the Institute is
exemplifed through its professional role in the establishment of the E.
Morris Cox Reading Improvement Center described in Chapter 5 and
through the opening of a small, selective, fulltime school for learning
disabled students, the William F. Raskob Day School, in 1973. The
Raskob Learning Institute today, operating under a director who
received both her Reading Specialist certificate and her Master's
degree in Special Education from the Institute, as well as the Institute's
highest award for distinguished service in the field of reading dis-
abilities, Mrs. Mary Lee Knapp, continues this professional service to
education. The identification, treatment and dissemination of knowl-
edge regarding reading and other learning disabilities has indeed been
changed substantively in lasting ways through the vision, energy and
committed effort of Sister Eileen Marie Cronin and her associates in
this project.
With great warmth, affection, fond memories of the years we have
worked together on common educational projects, vivid recollections of
the dreams, joys, crises and results shared in the realization of those
projects, I dedicate this book to Sister Eileen Marie Cronin. This
dedication represents recognition of her creative insight into the
serious educational needs of children, admiration for her unwavering
courage in confronting massive odds and respect for her profound
commitment to translating educational ideas into practice. She is, and
will continue to be, my teacher, colleague, friend and personal example
of an "agent for educational change."
Acknowledgments
In many respects this book represents the culmination of a continuing
dialogue with friends, supporters and critics of the public schools over
the past fourteen years. Like many parents, my interest and concern for
the effective functioning of the public schools became suddenly vital
when I enrolled my son in kindergarten. Since that time, and after
countless PTA meetings, years of observation of the schools in opera-
tion, participation in the dialogue over public education both as a
parent and as a professional evaluator of federally-funded educational
programs, and a systematic exploration of the needs and resources of
the public schools, my interest and concern for the functioning of the
public education system have only heightened. How a community, or a
nation, educates its children determines in profound ways the quality of
life in our society. This book does not presume to give a prescription for
the "right" way to accomplish this challenging, but difficult task.
Rather, it offers one perspective in defining the current problems of
public policy in education and some suggestions for redirection. The
dialogue will continue in the years ahead, as it must, if we are
genuinely engaged in the process of recreating a civilized, democratic
society in keeping with the demands of a changing world.
The research for this book has taken me to five major school
districts in California, the California State Department of Education
and the U.S. Office of Education. I have talked with administrators,
teachers, parents, community leaders, legislators, scholars and the
children themselves about their expectations for public education, the
performance of the schools and their vision for the future. At the
district, state and federal levels of educational administration, I have
met educators who were thoughful, concerned and candid about their
perceptions of the performance of the public schools, the areas of
strength and weakness in educational policy and the needs for revision
in educational policy and performance. Many persons have contributed
time, attention and insight to the development of the profile of public
xi
xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
education presented in this book. I acknowledge and appreciate their
efforts; they are too many to name. Some persons, however, have made
particular contributions which shaped the development of this research
in important ways. I wish especially to thank the administrators in the
"Big Five" California school districts who took time from their busy
schedules to reflect upon the conduct of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) programs in their districts. Andrew Viscovich,
Paul Schubert, Eileen Denlinger and Charles Mitchell, administrators
with the Oakland Unified School District during the years in which the
research was conducted; Victor Rossi, Thomas Latham, Mary Byrd and
Mel Tidyman of the San Francisco Unified School District; William
Lucas, Richard Corian, Shiziko Asaki and John Posa of the Los Angeles
Unified School District; Vernon Hinze, Ed Ahrens, James Edmondson
and Geraldine Grant of the Long Beach Unified School District; Scott
Gray, David Fish and Lottie Hess of the San Diego Unified School
District, all gave thoughtful accounts of the benefits and costs of
implementing ESEA programs in their districts.
At the California State Department of Education, several adminis-
trators shared their insights and concerns over the administration of
ESEA programs at the state level. Donald McKinley, Charles Cooke,
Alexander Law, Robert Welty and the late Alvin Clark provided cogent
and perceptive accounts of the role of the state educational administra-
tion in the delivery of the ESEA programs to the districts. At the
federal level, Donald Hansen, John Evans, Peter Relic, Richard Schute,
Emerson Elliot and Christopher Cross discussed the promises and
pitfalls of implementing a national policy in education. To each of these
persons, all deeply involved with the design and implementation of
educational policy, I express my appreciation for their substantive
contribution to this study.
This study was assisted by financial support from several sources.
An initial grant from the Raskob Foundation awarded jointly to Sister
Eileen Marie Cronin and myself provided research time for the formula-
tion of the study, a review of the E. Morris Cox Reading Improvement
Center data and a review of educational performance data under ESEA
programs during the first decade of operation. Two "mini-grants" from
the San Jose State University Foundation supported research for
interviewing district administrators in the "Big Five" California school
districts during two summers and for reviewing the legal and adminis-
trative requirements for the implementation of the ESEA programs.
Two faculty development grants from San Jose State University
provided research assistance and released time from my regular
teaching schedule to facilitate the completion of the manuscript. I
express my deep gratitude to both the Raskob Foundation and San Jose
State University for this assistance, which made possible the conduct of
this study.
The intellectual roots of this study can be traced to my own
teachers, in both formal and informal respects. My understanding of
education and its role within this democratic society has been influ-
enced by the works of many scholars. In particular, the writings of
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
Gabriel Almond, Ralf Dahrendorf, Robert Dahl, Theodore Lowi and
Aaron Wildavsky have contributed to my perceptions of the problems
and processes of education in a democratic society. The analysis
presented in this book has benefited greatly from spirited discussions
with graduate students in my seminars on public policy analysis and
program implementation at San Jose State University. Walter Wong and
Eileen Bleecker gave competent and timely assistance with research on
the administrative structure and evaluation data of the ESEA programs.
Valuable support for this book has come from other professional
sources. Richard Rowson, former president of Pergamon Press, Inc.,
provided the initial review of this study for publication and guidance
during the process of completing the manuscript for publication.
Sanford Rosen's demonstrated skills in conflict resolution lent insight
and depth to the discussion in Chapter 3, which also benefited from the
perceptive comments of the anonymous reviewers for the Law &
Society Review. Angela Clark alternated patience with firmness in
exercising her considerable skills as an editor. Fauneil Rinn, William
McCraw and John Wettergreen, colleagues in the Department of
Political Science at San Jose State University, lent courage and
camaraderie to the final stages of writing and revision of this manu-
script. Members of the Bay Area Women in Political Science served as a
much appreciated professional and personal "support group" through the
research and writing of this book.
Finally, I owe a very personal debt of gratitude to my family, many
teachers among them, for their love and encouragement in undertaking
this study. I wish especially to thank my mother, a teacher herself, for
introducing me to the joys of learning and the potential of education to
empower the learner. My sister, Margret Lydell, also a teacher, typed
the completed manuscript for publication, a gift of love, time and skill
beyond the call of sisterly duty. To my son, Nathaniel, and my
daughter, Honore, I give a very special thanks, for they have shared
both the laughter and the tears engendered during the research and
writing of this book.
To all of the persons mentioned above and more, I express my deep
appreciation for their valued assistance and support in the conduct of
this study. The education accomplished in the process has truly been
mine.
L.K.C.
Oakland, California
