This paper reports on a pilot course responding to facilitating academic writing for an academic writing program implemented at a provincial key university in China. Taken from an activity theoretical perspective, it discusses the practical experience collected during a pilot process of designing, implementing, and assessing a genre-based approach…

The New University for Regional Innovation (NURI) is one of the South Korean Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development's key projects supporting regional universities. NURI aims to develop areas of specialization in regional universities and link universities to local industries. In 2004, the South Korean government pledged to invest…

The 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) was passed in an atmosphere of excitement, optimism, and national attention. Recent survey results suggest that most Kentucky residents want KERA to succeed and are willing to provide the necessary resources. However, skepticism may be increasing. Support differs according to several demographic…

Presents results of a retrospective investigation into a Vancouver (Canada) school district's adoption of school-based management, using Fullan's triphasic model of change (adoption, implementation, and incorporation) as a framework. During the change process, Fullan's overall factors were apparent, and the environment was unobstructed by…

Educators' efforts to employ quality management (QM) and strategic planning (SP) processes often fail because they plan incompletely; view QM and SP as distinct, parallel efforts; or fail to establish systemic responsibility for desired changes. This article introduces a four-phase framework that integrates strategic planning and quality…

Reviews Cuban educational reforms, highlighting 1959, 1976, and 1980s initiatives. Compares Cuba's progress with John Kotter's eight-step process based on establishing a sense of urgency, creating a guiding coalition, developing and communicating the change vision, empowering broad-based action, generating short-term wins, consolidating gains, and…

Examines the conceptual underpinnings of charter schools, their appeal to reformers, and the resistance to their implementation. The charter-school movement seems promising but will probably founder, due to inadequate financial support, special interest groups' lobbying efforts, and lack of an entrepreneurial spirit among educators. (11…

A 1992 survey of state education departments revealed the extent and nature of each state's school-based management (SBM) implementation. Fully 44 states reported some SBM presence and confirmed the existing knowledge base of activity in budget, curriculum, personnel, group process, and policy. There is state and national consensus for a gradual…

Defines a basic framework for educational strategic planning that serves both learners and society. Discusses Mega Planning's critical success factors, common planning errors, and basic elements of scoping, planning, implementation, and continuous improvement/evaluation phases. Strategic objectives should drive curriculum objectives, and these in…

Reviews Hong Kong's School Management Initiative implementation strategies (rational-empirical, power-coercive, and normative-reeducative), compares them with New South Wales, Australia's strategies, and suggests an appropriate strategy for future reforms. In Australia, changes were radical and thorough (using power-coercive strategies), whereas…

Describes a Mega Planning simulation using a complete strategic planning process aimed at reinventing U.S. public education systems. The process involved scoping (developing the ideal mission, assessing mega-needs, and deriving mission objectives); planning (deriving the mission profile, performing function analyses, and evaluating performance…

Focuses on a model of school-based management (SBM) and on generalities that can be drawn from recent research on SBM in several southern states. A case study of SBM in Kentucky, where the Kentucky Education Reform Act mandated SBM, illustrates issues in its implementation. (SLD)

For substantial change to occur, a school system must understand the components of change: identifying assumptions, analyzing choices, making commitments, selecting and implementing appropriate actions, and engaging in critical reflection. Schools must also identify and manage key success factors for building capacity (ability and willingness) to…

Explains the main factors affecting implementation of curriculum innovations, including those related to teachers, innovations, and change agents. Introduces Hong Kong's Target- Oriented Curriculum initiative, a constructivist, active-learning framework, and shows how these factors enhanced or hindered program implementation. Teacher attitudes…

During 1989-90, British Columbia implemented a dual-entry kindergarten program based on developmental readiness. The program failed because developmental readiness was difficult to measure, random entries were the rule, and a compromise solution proved unsatisfactory. Acting out of a principled desire to serve children could not squelch rational,…