The purpose of this guidebook is to clarify why policymakers should expand the focus of school reform to encompass a reframing and restructuring of education support programs and services and to offer some guidance on how to go about doing so. Section 1 deals with the need to restructure support services and offers ideas for new directions.…

Three phases of any change effort include initiation, implementation, and continuation. This seventh guidebook in a series of nine video conferences addresses later stages of implementation and continuation (initiation and early stages of implementation are discussed in the sixth guidebook.) In the guidebook are definitions of the three phases of…

Comprehensive school improvement is based on reorganizing and revitalizing the entire school rather than focusing on specific student populations or programs. An overview of 17 schoolwide reform programs is provided in this book. The purpose of the text is to give education leaders basic information about some of the best-known externally…

Guidelines for transforming and improving the nation's public schools are presented in this book, with a focus on the regional laboratory's program for educational change. The program is organized around "designing schools for enhanced learning" and is based on three principles--a focus on learning, a systemic approach to change, and…

Outcomes of a series of meetings held in 1990 by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) Roundtable on Public School Choice are summarized in this document's six chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the components (including motivations, vision formation, leadership, the design process, and the types of choice available) involved in…

General guidelines for companies interested in supporting school-based restructuring are offered in this booklet. Following a brief review of the nature and types of partnerships, chapter 2 examines partnerships within the context of school restructuring outcomes and identifies some essential components for developing a reform-model partnership.…

This guidebook contains information to help business leaders and others interested in developing and supporting effective programs to improve American educational quality. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the business/school relationship, which sets the context for corporate involvement in school reform activities at the local, state, and federal…

This feature issue on inclusion and school restructuring for students with and without disabilities contains the following articles: (1) "The 7 Habits for Educators" (Terri Vandercook); (2) "The Evolution of Inclusive Education" (Jennifer York-Barr and Terri Vandercook); (3) "Creating Inclusive Schools: What Does the…

In October 1994 the President signed into law the "Improving America's Schools Act." Title I, the largest primary and secondary federal education program was reauthorized by this legislation, which, among other things rewrote the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The reauthorized law provides parents, advocates, and school…

The premise of this policy paper is that two educational movements, the charter school movement and the development and dissemination of a variety of comprehensive school designs, have an unprecedented opportunity to work together to improve U.S. public education. This paper, focusing on challenges facing comprehensive school design organizations,…

This book was designed to help school, parent, and community leaders acquire the skills necessary for the successful restructuring of middle-level schools. Chapter 1 defines middle-level education and describes the forces that shaped and continue to shape middle-level education, the evolution of middle-level schools, and current middle-level…

The new literacy goes beyond the requirements for a high school diploma, including capacities once demanded only of a privileged, college-bound elite. This book concerns this new, higher literacy and whether current educational restructuring efforts are likely to foster such literacy in all students. The study used informal interviewing techniques…

This guide is the fourth in a series of guidelines designed to be a framework for positive action at the school site and in the classroom through the High Schools That Work (HSTW) program, an effort to raise the achievement of career-bound students. It details the process of accomplishing the HSTW's goals through an ongoing staff development…

Drawing on the experience of public schools in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this document details a planning model and process of middle level reorganization. Following an examination of the impetus for change and how recent changes in the nation's economy, demographics, and family structure have shaped the context for educational change, collaborative…

This manual is designed to assist California school personnel to respond to the increasing diversity in student populations, with a change process based on principles of shared leadership through a decentralized site-based management method. The organization change model utilized by the pilot schools is the California Local Education Reform…