CSR Principal Perceptions of Support from the State Department of Education

Elementary school principals who received a Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) award in January or August 2002 (n = 21) were invited to be interviewed in the late spring and summer of 2003. A total of 19 principals consented to audiotaped interviews. The interviews focused on several CSR dimensions, including principals' beliefs about the extent to which schoolwide achievementwould increase with CSR implementation, where achievement gains were most likely to occur, and the degree of teacher support for the program. In this article, our focus is on principals' perceptions of their relationship with the Arizona State Department of Education (ADE). In summary, principals perceived the relationship between ADE and CSR schools to be one of benign neglect. The state was only a vehicle for transferring funds and did not provide guidance or oversight after funds were awarded. Hence, federal CSR policies, as mediated by the ADE, resulted in single - school reform, not district or state reform.