After almost three decades of school reform, student achievement nationally is about where it was when it started, and student behavior has declined dramatically. Numbers of dropouts, especially in cities and among the poor and minorities, have gotten much higher. Yet many billions of dollars have been spent; countless professionals have carried…

Over the last two decades, there has been a surge in public policies seeking to give low-income families more choice about where to send their children to school. These changes in policy have both reflected and accommodated an influx of new educational providers, including school operators, technology firms, back-office service providers, tutors,…

An often-quoted Nigerian proverb holds that it is the responsibility of the whole village to teach a child. This paper argues that this goal might not even be possible, given the complex educational system of the 1990s. The paper provides a framework for effective change based on an understanding of the complexity of the educational system. It…

Unlike most papers on education and ecology, this one is not concerned with the content of education but its organisation as a system and hence its "purpose" or "finality". The central contention of the paper, which takes English education and training (or "learning") as a case in point, is that in a new market-state formation the pursuit of…

Analyzes the relationship of Saddleback Community College's structure to functions and outcomes in the context of current changes in structure at the state level. (KEH)

Future leaders will have to rely upon skills that are far different from those used in the past. Action mapping serves as a meta-process for moving schools toward desired ends; it calls upon school leaders to move into action, to reflect upon such actions, and to collect stories for future reflections. This process could be helpful to a school…

Discusses the lack of extensive adoption of technological media; the motives for using new technology; and assumptions concerning the universality of educational problems, how learning is transferred, and how teaching is conducted. Working at the local school level in analyzing objectives and systems and testing technological developments are…

Outlines the author's participation in several programs designed to effect change in educational institutions. Observations regarding school decentralization, community participation, and staff development programs are presented. (APM)

Community colleges traditionally have been a nexus for transitions to and from the workforce. This article examines horizontal and vertical workforce transitions and how a global economy and the need to train new subpopulations of future workers will cause community colleges to approach their roles in workforce training differently. There are too…

Although educational reformers frequently use the words "system,""systemic change," and "systemic approach," many lack a fundamental understanding of the systems concept. This paper describes the application of systems theory to the problems of educational reform and educational assessment. It introduces basic concepts and principles and describes…

Presents an overview of ways in which urban school bureaucracies constrain and can impede educational change, and attempts to illuminate some principles for working effectively for change. (APM)

The major challenges for educational reform today are assembling disparate pieces of information to create sustainable systemic change and "scaling up" systemic reform to encompass all schools, all programmatic areas, all levels of schooling and diverse social contexts. Mid-continent Regional Education Laboratory (McREL) has begun to organize its…

Canada's national educational system elicits diverse curricular demands and requires discreet, sensitive responses. In spite of perennial funding shortfalls, Canada's schools have been remarkably successful in meeting those demands. During and after the 1960s, educational change came as a result of two very strong sets of expectations. One broad…

A systems design framework for the transformation of education is presented in this paper. A systems approach views education as a system of interdependent problems and the design process as one of four parts of organizational inquiry. A framework for educational design is presented, which is composed of three dimensions--focus for change, scope…

This book represents the culmination of a twelve-month management training and development program conducted by the New England Teacher Corps Network for its project directors and staff. Wesley Brown and Perry Zirkel trace the organizational evolution of Teacher Corps projects. William Smith presents a theoretical analysis of the management system…