The literature and research on school improvement and reform tends to focus on the early stages of the change process, and to neglect what happens to make change a more permanent feature of the school's activities. This lack of attention is problematic during a period when the demands for sustained and lasting reform are proliferating. Our paper reviews what is known about institutionalization and the management of change in schools, and develops a model for managing the “performance dip,” the period in the life of any major change activity during which dicontinuation of effort is most likely.
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