This last article in a series of seven describes the outcome of attempts to implement performance contracting in an innovative school district in Colorado. In reviewing the series, the author concludes that although many of the innovations discussed did not survive, the schools were none the worse for their experimentation. (WD)

The intent of charter schools is to become autonomous entities, free from the laws constraining public schools but accountable for student outcomes. This article describes the development of two very different charter schools in the Jefferson County (Colorado) School District. Although one is an "old-fashioned" alternative school and the…

Evidence from the Boston Renaissance Charter School suggests that the Edison Project is struggling fitfully to learn school management. Reliance on suspension and physical restraints demonstrates Edison Project's lack of experience with inner-city children. Test scores are up, but faculty are warring over school mission, teachers are struggling to…

Parents in Touch, the umbrella program for parent involvement in the Indianapolis (Indiana) Public Schools, was established to facilitate the kind of two-way communication that enables parents to become partners in their children's education. The program uses various approaches, including parent/teacher conferences, a dial-a-teacher assistance…

During the early 1970s, over 150 school districts and several states contracted with private companies to deliver instruction, and the Nixon Administration initiated a vast privatization field experiment in Texarkana. None of these performance contracting experiments significantly improved instruction. Instead, they raised issues of staffing,…

Describes Boston's efforts to abandon adversarial bargaining in favor of a reform-oriented contract establishing a shared decision-making model of school-based management. The model includes significant parent involvement, a mentoring program for new teachers, a voluntary peer-assistance program for veteran teachers, and collaborative…