Too many students still experience the factory model evident in most U.S. high schools, which were designed to put young people on a conveyor belt and move them from one overloaded teacher to the next, in 45-minute increments, to be stamped with separate, disconnected lessons 7 or 8 times a day. While these factory-model designs may have worked…

Schools are faced with increasing pressures from declining test scores and outcry from the public to improve the educational system. Efforts to reform the system have varied widely and produced inconsistent results. One school took a different approach by embracing the reform efforts through a systematic change process, led by a transformational…

Persistently low-achieving public schools around the country have received $5.8 billion from the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, in addition to districts and state funds, and other supplementary federal funds. Despite all of these sources of funding, most of the schools receiving them have failed to make a dramatic difference in…

School reform initiatives designed to improve school quality require strong leadership, strategic planning, data analysis, and systemized performance accountability. Utilizing school reforms includes rethinking curriculum and instruction to improve quality and promote equality, restructuring school operations with a focus on both the students and…

This paper provides a table that contains a summary of resources available that support the National High School Center's "Eight Elements of High School Improvement: A Mapping Framework". This framework is based on eight common elements of systemic school reform and provides a structure for understanding, aligning, and prioritizing…

Twenty-first century principals will play a vital role in curriculum and staff development. Principals must be prepared to revitalize teachers' energies by mastering and using powerful, research-based strategies, including establishing a common vision, focusing on instructional improvement and accountability, creating a collegial, participatory…

There exists much research and theoretical literature on school restructuring that is of interest to policymakers, practitioners, and educational researchers. In this publication, a bibliography of journal articles, manuscripts, and books is provided that divides the literature into five areas. Section 1, "General References on School…

A basic tenet of the effective-schools movement is that all children can master the basic skills needed to be successful in school. Today, the twin notions of equity and excellence strongly drive the school-reform movement. This book examines the effective-schools movement as a school-reform philosophy and renewal process for the present and…

Pennsylvania school reform in the decade following the publication of "A Nation at Risk" can be divided into three distinct phases. As these phases parallel those of the nation, Pennsylvania is a representative state in which to explore the nation's efforts to repair its ailing school system. The first phase was that of adding inputs, of…

Recommendations and an action plan for improving Wisconsin public schools' focus on teaching and learning, rather than on changes such as vouchers and privatization. Positive strategies designed to promote achievement are favored over punitive strategies or remedial actions. The action plan includes financial help to implement the recommendations.…

A review and assessment of states' reform actions, measurement techniques, and the relevance of the reforms for New York State are addressed in this collection of papers from a working seminar on the purpose of schooling and the means of producing higher levels of achievement. The first paper, "Education Reform in the State: A Comparative…

This bibliography provides a recommended list of research and theoretical literature on school restructuring. Selected for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers, the literature is organized into five areas. Part I, "General References on School Restructuring," has sections on proposals for school reform (42 references); how…

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity and Equity, appointed by the Superintendent of the Saint Paul (Minnesota) Public Schools, reviewed the policies and practices of the city's public schools, focusing on the low achievement of students of color. The Commission presented its report in May 1994, and this report is the Superintendent's response.…

Describes planning backwards, the Coalition of Essential Schools' educational policymaking strategy for high schools. The article discusses five possible dilemmas in planning backwards: outcomes or exhibitions, local or remote authority, rigid or flexible standards, apartness or authenticity in assessment, and curriculum scaffolds built of courses…

Urban school restructuring, although it can break down bureaucracy and empower teachers, can also seem distant from the day-to-day problems of most teachers, and even increase teacher burnout. Many of the following initiatives of the school restructuring movement may intensify a teacher's frustration: (1) school-based management may raise the…