The main aim of the study was to examine whether headteachers in Malaysian primary schools were equipped with the relevant competencies to execute school change, in the light of increasing demands for educational excellence and ensuing school reforms. A comparison was made between the National School (NS) and National-Type Chinese School (NTCS).…

Technology has changed the way the world functions on a day-to-day basis, but what about education? Education has been directly affected by the increase of technology in the United States. This change has not been well accepted by some members of the educational community, thus leaving the realm of education behind in the technology era. This…

We join the authors in this special issue in their call to embrace a culture of evaluation. Obstacles to change are formidable. Educators debate their purpose--provide knowledge or achieve environmental goals--and we have limited evidence of the effectiveness of environmental programs and policies. Change requires collaboration across…

This collection of readings in support of inclusive education for students with disabilities offers rationales for inclusion, personal accounts of individuals involved, and strategies for facilitating change. Stressed throughout is the idea that inclusion is an attitude or belief system, not an action or set of actions. The readings identify…

Research suggests that school reform initiatives have had minimal success in engendering systemic instructional improvement in schools. Within this evaluative context, this paper explores the means through which the paradigm of thinking about school instruction dominant in the profession (that is, Hirsch's "thoughtworld") potentially…

This commentary on "The Effects of Family-Centered Service Coordination: A Social Validity Study" (Romer), discusses findings that the three service coordinators did not change their behavior to be more family-centered after one workshop and that it took follow-up work to get their behaviors to a minimal level of performance. (CR)

A variety of consortial arrangements in higher education are discussed noting advantages such as savings realized through the cooperative efforts, enrichment of academic programs, improved student services and community outreach, as well as obstacles (organizational, procedural, and cultural). Success factors identified include presence of…

This study followed up teachers two years after they had attended a summer institute on gifted education to identify changes teachers made in their classrooms. It identified factors that either supported (student success, personal challenge, and increasing self confidence) or impeded (feelings of isolation, school bureaucracy, large class size,…

This article describes the results of a study on interagency collaboration required to make major systemic changes in order to address the needs of emotionally and behaviorally disturbed youth. Interviews were conducted with practitioners from a cross-section of agencies that worked with high-risk gang youth. The intent was to examine both the…

The process of change at the academic Sepulveda (California) Veterans' Administration hospital during implementation of a new ambulatory primary care program was examined through individual or focus group interviews with 63 managers, house officers, and patients. Major problems included administrative integration of in- and outpatient services;…

This article suggests that it is time for sociologists to redirect their focus from critiques of policy makers' unrealistic visions for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the more generic issues that consistently mobilise resistance to ICTs within schools and education systems. There is an extraordinary difference between young…

This final project report describes three related studies that examined reform efforts in a major metropolitan school district. Emphasis was on seven schools that had developed collaborative service approaches to reduce fragmentation of service delivery, increase accountability for students "at risk," and eliminate duplication of services. In…