Taking Inquiry to Scale: An Alternative to Traditional Approaches to Education Reform

Presenting a decidedly different narrative of education reform, Taking Inquiry to Scale challenges traditional notions of where professional knowledge and expertise reside, the goals for change, the expectations and roles of educators and outside experts in bringing about change, and what it means to take change to scale. Michael J. Palmisano counters the dominant narrative in which outsiders' agendas and best practices are transmitted to local educators. Instead, knowing that nobody knows a school or school district like those who live and work in it, he argues persuasively that change happens when educators come together to learn with and from one another in the context of shared practice. Doing so builds what Michael Fullan refers to as the "collective capacity" to adapt, innovate, and respond to local needs.

State and local school leaders will find this book invaluable as they work to improve student outcomes. Taking change to scale requires building collaborative work and learning cultures that support educator learning and system change. Through examples drawn from the collaborative inquiry of a midsize urban school district, Palmisano presents broad and inclusive educator inquiry as a means for building collective capacity that enables all students to succeed.