Schools have been intractable to change and the attainment of goals set by reformers. A major failure has been the inability of reformers to confront this intractability. As a result, each new wave of reform learns nothing from earlier efforts and comes up with recommendations that have failed in the past. Nine chapters explore why reform efforts…

In this book, eight contributors examine issues related to the likely effects of the decentralization of school governance on educational practice. Two major themes emerge in the book. The first (chapters 1 through 4) is that governance reforms in education may have little to do with what actually happens in schools, but have much to do with…

This book provides practical information about the complexity of school change, with an emphasis on the role of time and its impact, along with other variables, on the change process. The other interacting variables in school change include vision, history, leadership and power, the use of support and pressure, capacity building, consensual…

This book provides alternative answers to those questions about the American educational system that have been answered until now by an outmoded, conservative educational agenda. Following the introduction that describes the rationale for a postmodern deconstruction of educational narratives, 13 chapters present essays on the following questions:…

This book points to the need to attend to ever-present inequalities of education in the light of new political correctness, technology, and curricula. Following the introduction, chapter 1 offers a review of neoconservative, liberal humanist, and radical theories of education. Chapter 2 suggests that one way to rethink and restructure the nature…

This is a critique of the current system of governance in public education. Chapters include: (1) "Statement of the Problem," which introduces the issues related to educational reform and provides some examples of previous successes and failures; (2) "The Non-Learning, Non-Self-Correcting System," in which the current system is…

This book presents nine papers about changing the way public higher education is governed. After providing an overview of the recent history of governance restructuring or renewal in public higher education in the United States, the book focuses on restructuring in five states: North Dakota, Massachusetts, Alaska, Maryland, and Minnesota. Part 1…