Few people have been more involved in shaping postwar U.S. education reforms--or dissented from some of them more effectively--than Chester Finn. Assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, and an aide to politicians as different as Richard Nixon and Daniel Moynihan, Finn has also been a high school teacher, an education professor, a…

"Social Network Theory and Educational Change" offers a provocative and fascinating exploration of how social networks in schools can impede or facilitate the work of education reform. Drawing on the work of leading scholars, the book comprises a series of studies examining networks among teachers and school leaders, contrasting formal…

Strategies for changing the organization and operation of school districts to create high-performance learning communities are presented. Chapters address the following areas: (1) the need for systemic and systematic change in school reform; (2) the attributes of high-performance learning communities; and (3) the knowledge base, acts of…

Prospective and experienced educators are invited to envision new schools for the emerging information age by this book, which rests on the belief that information technologies will generate new ways for people to make sense of their lives. It is argued that the narrative that made sense of industrial progress has been broken, and that it is no…

In education, the term restructuring is as notable for its ambiguity as for its meaning. This book draws from more than 600 sources across a wide spectrum of perspectives regarding restructuring. It provides a picture of many of the trends and issues in school restructuring and attempts to place these issues into a context that helps explain where…

Contributors to this collection raise questions about the wisdom of the Goals 2000 approach to educational improvement. They present new looks at improving America's schools and creating an educational model based on care, concern, and connection. Chapters include: (1) "Introduction: Setting Sail on a Very Long Voyage" (Evans Clinchy);…

This handbook provides innovative ideas for enhancing a learning community for students and faculty and offers administrators a blueprint for surviving into the next decade. The book argues that we are witnessing the final phase of "smokestack education," an outmoded approach to schooling that was designed to fuel an industrial society's need for…

This resource book was compiled for the United States Department of Education's Goals 2000 Orientation Conference. Sections present information about the numerous components of successful comprehensive reforms based on high standards, such as the National Education Goals, systemic education reform, standards, student assessment, professional…

This book focuses on the forces that will shape education politics and policy into the 21st century. Ten chapters written by prominent educators center on the roles to be played by education professionals, local citizen groups, government agencies, and business leaders in shaping education policy, responses to racial and ethnic segregation, school…

Education has emerged as a leading national issue for the 1990s. To address some of the current and future issues facing education, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company asked members of the Metropolitan Life Foundation Education Advisory Council to articulate their views about recent and future directions in public-school-improvement efforts. This…