This paper presents an array of structural configurations that invite new consideration of the necessary conditions for developing systemic school reform; first by reviewing the current literature, and then by examining thirty-six existing partnerships as structural configurations, an exploratory typology for the analysis of successful…

Schools and districts rarely have a fair distribution of teacher talent. Poor children and black children are less likely to be taught by the strongest teachers and more likely to be taught by the weakest. Several districts have implemented programs to reduce the teacher quality gap. Hamilton County, Tennessee, launched an initiative that included…

Since 2002 the Consortium on Chicago School Research, in collaboration with the Mills College in Oakland, California, has conducted a series of studies on the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative (CHSRI)--a partnership between Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the Gates Foundation, and local Chicago foundations to create approximately two dozen…

After identifying the aspects of classroom life that school restructuring might influence, this paper summarizes findings on school principals' perceptions concerning the potential effects of fundamental school reform. Because so little is known about principals' views on restructuring, an exploratory study employing qualitative methodology…

The article explores the consequences of new systems of shared decision making and governance for the assessment of principals, presenting case studies of two Chicago-area school districts that made substantial progress expanding teachers' professional roles in school- and district-level governance. (SM)

After delineating wider context of Coalition of Essential Schools restructuring in Illinois, paper explores principal's changing role in four schools immersed in restructuring process. Factors inhibiting role changes in shared governance system were lack of stability, support, trust, and commitment. Factors promoting change were new conceptions of…