In education, the field of implementation science is a discipline dedicated to supporting educators' use of evidence-based practices (EPBs) to improve school and student outcomes. As highlighted in previous columns in this series, school teams must thoughtfully consider how EBPs align with the school/district core values and fit the local context…

We studied a case of a school in a high need setting that undertook multiple simultaneous initiatives during a major school reorganization. We focused on the simultaneous implementations of two comprehensive initiatives, one related to ambitious mathematics teaching and one related to the Understanding by Design curriculum writing process. We…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore a concept that has been less examined in empirical research on school organization, namely Network Learning Capacity (NLC). It is proposed that teachers' professional networks enhance teachers' individual NLC. This process leads to a formation of professional community (PC) and therefore affects the…

This article is focused on identifying the current issues in elementary education in the United States. In each of these issues, elementary educators are at the crossroads looking for solutions and directions. Based on the review of literature, the authors pinpoint the upcoming challenges elementary school educators will be facing in the future.…

After providing technical assistance to the federal Smaller Learning Community Program grantees, the authors developed five lessons for successful programs: 1) A strong vision of improved instruction needs to drive high school reorganization; 2) A strong vision of improved instruction focuses on strengthening the instructional core; 3)…

Describes a district's reorganization of 2 K-5 schools into 1 for all K-2 grades and 1 for all 3-5 grades for economic reasons. The principal of the 3-5 facility views better focus and certain innovative initiatives (involving coverage of special topics, a whole-language reading program, and a sequential-research-skills approach) as advantages.…

A survey of 150 elementary schools was conducted to examine the organizational characteristics, not the characteristics of individual teachers, that facilitate or impede mainstreaming implementation. Individual variables were grouped into three categories--communication/information variables, administrator variables, and demographic variables. (SB)

To implement curriculum changes successfully, five guidelines should be followed: changes should be research-based; successful innovation requires organizational changes; innovations must be feasible for the average teacher; implementation efforts must be organic, not bureaucratic; and a definite curriculum plan is essential. Guidelines for…

A San Jose (California) school district's voucher experiment illustrates the difficulty of implementing organizational and structural innovation in an education system. Successful implementation of technology-mediated education requires identification of the critical problem, negotiated decision making, component integration, authority and role…

Explores whether primary schoolchildren's success in reading and writing depends on managing of literacy teaching at different levels, not simply the underlying pedagogic principles. Communication breakdowns in England's Catch Up Project illustrate how increasingly complex variables become in a top-down approach. (Contains 38 references.) (MLH)

Explored the implementation of middle level reform components in both high- and low-performing middle schools, seeking to identify factors linked to student achievement. Found that organizational health, which includes academic focus, teacher affiliation, and resource support, more directly influences student performance than simple implementation…

Evaluates a small New York school district's efforts to reorganize its two K-5 elementary schools into one K-2 primary grade school and one 3-5 intermediate school, focusing on student, staff, and parent reactions. Although the new arrangement created more focused schools, the intermediate principal misses the energy deriving from the Kindergarten…

Changing to a trimester 3 X 5 schedule at Westfield (Indiana) High School made time for more focused academic activity, individual learning opportunities, and teacher development activities. Parents, students, teachers, and administrators find the schedule highly effective; academic achievement, attendance, and graduation rates have improved. (MLH)

Neither hyperrationalist nor decentralist reform strategies will seriously improve educational quality. Successful reform strategies incorporate three dimensions: the authorized movement, regional or localist responses, and conversation, involving changes in school rhetoric. States must create a context for developing organizational competence at…

Like most other reform endeavors, the current restructuring movement may fail. Advocates often oversimplify restructuring, overlooking serious underlying issues, such as the politics of organizational change, and ingrained U.S. schooling characteristics, including inclusiveness, deep structure, knowledge industry influences, growth of state power,…