A new study published by the Educational Research Service, Inc., helps to explain why. It is based on further analysis of data from longitudinal studies of 10 promising programs, such as the Coalition of Essential Schools, the Paideia Project, and Success for All, conducted by The Johns Hopkins University Center for the Social Organization of Schools and Abt Associates.

The researchers found 10 destabilizing conditions that hindered the implementation of the programs. The problems are widespread, they say, and the failure of both policymakers and practitioners to address any one of them "can make any program ineffective." The 10 problems include:

• Funding. Limited funding induces schools to take on one new program after another, "often without considering their capacity to complete the implementation, let alone institutionalize the changes."
  
  

• Leadership. In addition to turnover of principals and superintendents, the programs often suffered from lack of commitment/understanding by principals.
  
  

• Commitment. Some sites had problems gaining a commitment from teachers, who either saw the reforms as fads or as threatening and overwhelming.
  
  

• Public, parent, and student perceptions. Magnet schools tended to cream off families which would have supported change in regular schools. Parents and students had limited understanding of the reforms.