What Happens to Reforms That Last? The Case of the Junior High School

Abstract

This case study of the origins and development of junior high schools offers an answer to the question: What happens to reforms that get institutionalized? The history of junior high schools reveals that their design as a fundamental change in American schooling was, over time, downsized and revised to become a modest addition to the high school. A latter-day effort to correct the flaws of junior highs through the middle school movement shows little change over the original design. This shrinking of aspirations and adaptation of the reform to the existing social architecture of schooling as it survives is the major finding of this study. Explanations for this phenomenon are found in institutional theories of organizations.