Students benefit when educators personalize a high school by developing a sense of community. A Puerto Rico international school employed middle-level concepts (interdisciplinary teams and advisory programs) to build community. Community-minded educators develop a definition unique to their school, know the characteristics of effective…

Cheshire (Connecticut) High School was given a clear mandate to renew itself. Initially resistant faculty became enthusiastic while helping the principal develop a renewal framework stressing interdisciplinary instructional practices, integrated skill targets and assessment procedures, international awareness themes, large-scale technological…

After researching NASSP's clearinghouse of information on exemplary programs, the writers present a synthesis of instructional strategies and curricular modalities in communications, social science, and humanities. Schools identified are listed at the end of the article. (Editor)

Growing student diversity, reports and government mandates, ninth-grade transition problems, and middle-school influences have produced new enthusiasm for high-school reorganization. Restructuring approaches such as block scheduling, differentiated instruction, academic teaming, house plans, career academies, heterogeneous grouping, and integrated…