This paper seeks to raise awareness among educational researchers and practitioners of some significant weaknesses and internal contradictions of randomised control trials (RCTs). Although critiques throughout the years from education scholars have pointed to the detrimental effects of this experimental approach on education practice and values,…

System models are commonly used in tertiary education as a mechanism for describing the interacting components of educational phenomena, but have hitherto been uncritically accepted. This paper provides a critical review of existing systems models, including the 3P model defined Biggs, and outlines their conceptual challenges. A revised model…

Within the Global Learning Programme (GLP) in England there has been an explicit focus on encouraging more holistic 'whole school' practice and the need for better evidence of its impact. This paper describes how support for a whole school approach to global learning was rationalised and developed within the programme, and how such an approach was…

The replication of proven social programs is a cost-effective and efficient way to achieve large-scale, positive social change. Yet there has been little guidance available about how to approach program replication and limited development of systems--at local, state or federal levels--to support replication efforts. "Laying a Solid Foundation:…

Between 1990 and 1993 the Department of Energy's precollege mathematics and science program budget grew approximately 1,250 percent. This report responds to questions about how effectively the Department of Energy manages its precollege mathematics and science program. The following questions are addressed: (1) the appropriateness of the…

Community organizing for school reform is a growing national phenomenon, as young people, parents, neighborhood residents, and faith-based institutions struggle to improve the quality and equity of public schooling, particularly in urban school districts. Now a decade old, community organizing projects are influencing local public schools in…

This guide examines claims for 24 schoolwide programs-- programs that promise to improve student learning by changing the entire school. Focusing on quantitative achievement measures such as test scores, grades, and graduation rates, the report was prepared for educators and others to assist them in their investigation of different approaches to…

This guidebook provides evaluation assistance to district and school staff. It was published in response to the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) Program, passed by Congress in 1997 to provide incentives and support for low-performing, high-poverty schools. CSRD is an attempt to ensure that schools conduct evaluation of whole-school…

This paper describes how one university developed a program portfolio, which provides a means for integrating previous strategic initiatives. Step one involved identifying the need for information as different institutional changes were implemented. Over 4 years, the university: launched a comprehensive strategic growth plan; designed and…

Program Level Planning, a model based upon decentralized decision making, is proposed as a method to move the planning process to the university's operational level. After describing the characteristics and steps of Program Level Planning, the problems in shifting the decision making to the local level are considered, along with the application of…

Implementation of programs of cognitive development need to be considered in the context of a schools readiness for educational change. Eight questions to help identify important issues focus on ability, values, ideas, circumstances, timing, obligations, resistance, and yield. (Author/DB)

This guide is designed to help school district leaders promote comprehensive school reform (CSR) and to assist schools in evaluating the implementation and outcomes of their CSR models. The guide discusses why evaluation is critical and how to use it as a tool for continuous improvement in CSR models. Summative and formative evaluations are…

The Memphis Restructuring Initiative (MRI) was an attempt at comprehensive school reform in Tennessee that ended with a whimper. Its downfall seems to involve some sort of "schismogenesis" or "inversion," in which many teachers violently reacted against being overworked and overwhelmed, culminating in the easy discarding of 8…

Views the growing movement of education reform as an opportunity for religious educators to join with public educators in introducing values education and teaching about religion into the public school curriculum. Highlights examples of values education in effect around the country and several studies of outcomes. (BCY)

Criticizes calls for national competency testing for Canadian students. Argues that thinking skills are too complex, and standardized tests too simplistic, for such tests to be valuable. Points out that testing alone does not improve education. Examines why standardized tests are appealing. Concludes that the tests are useful if their limits are…