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- Vol 5 TE: App C
school improvementcurricular coherenceknowledge-rich curriculumteacher professional developmentinstructional expertiseopportunity costsscalabilityimplementation feasibilityBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
Wiliam examines prominent school-improvement proposals by asking not only whether an intervention can work, but how large its likely effect is, what it costs, whether it can scale, and what must be displaced to implement it. He argues that familiar policies—recruiting supposedly smarter teachers, dismissing weaker teachers, performance pay, smaller classes, copying high-performing systems, and expanding school choice—offer limited or impractical routes to system-wide gains when these constraints are considered.
Key ideas
His preferred priorities are a coherent, knowledge-rich curriculum and sustained improvement of the teachers already working in schools. Curriculum matters because knowledge supports later thinking and cumulative learning; teacher development matters because instructional expertise can continue growing throughout a career. The book advocates school-based professional learning that is gradual, choice-sensitive, evidence-informed, and supported by peers, rather than one-off training. It is an argumentative synthesis focused substantially on the United States, not a trial comparing a complete reform package.
Why it matters
Leaders can apply its decision framework by comparing opportunity costs, feasibility, and expected impact, protecting curricular coherence, and creating routines in which every teacher deliberately improves practice over time.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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