Community, Collaboration and Collegiality in School Reform.

Community, Collaboration and Collegiality in School Reform is an engaging and well written account of a curricular and instructional reform effort based on a fictional school district's implementation of the Connections program.

The author, Nina Dorsch, explores much of the subsequent reform and restructuring efforts that followed A Nation at Risk to identify what factors made some efforts succeed. Dorsch maintains that successful implementation of diverse reform initiatives often touch on three concepts: community, collaboration and collegiality. Community suggests bonds of "shared values, purposes and commitments" that define reform initiatives. Collaboration involves the substitution of the traditional norms of autonomy and isolation to create opportunities for constructive interaction among educators. The collegial community is characterized by a reciprocal relationship between the community and its individual members, where each promotes the growth of the other.

In her fictional account, Dorsch describes the context in which the program was developed and implemented, the key players and the implementation's high and low points. Dorsch also examines the school and town community in which this program was created.

One criticism of the book is its structure. The author makes little connection between the research mentioned and the attendant story. I believe this book would be worthwhile reading only if it is linked with selected research abstracts so a clear picture of the portrayed reform initiative could emerge.

(Community, Collaboration and Collegiality in School Reform by Nina Dorsch, State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y., 1998, 238 pp., AASA member price $17.95 hardcover. Available from AASA Distribution Center, P.O. Box 411, Annapolis Jct. Md. 20701-0411. Toll-free: 888-782-2272 or 301-617-7802. Stock #4-002SA)