Outcome-based education (OBE) means clearly focusing and organizing everything in an educational system around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences. This book examines the issues critical to understanding and implementing OBE. Chapter 1 addresses a range of issues related to the…

This paper describes "Building Local Leadership for Middle-Grades Schools Improvement," a school-improvement effort implemented in six schools (three urban and three nonurban) within two neighboring districts in the south central United States. Methodology involved a survey of faculty members' perceptions conducted in 1988 and 1989, interviews…

A framework for designing academic standards and for refining these standards through a curriculum- design process is provided in this book. The book is intended as a step- by-step guide than can be picked up and followed by any interested educator. Chapter 1 begins with a brief discussion concerning the need for standards and examines several…

This sourcebook is a collection of some planning workshop ideas and tools that have been used by organizers of charter school workshops in a number of states. The purpose of the sourcebook is to help organizations assist potential charter school founders in their school planning through the application, chartering, and approval processes. The…

The Chicago School Reform Act mandated that schools develop and implement their own school improvement plans (SIPs) to meet systemwide goals and expected outcomes. This paper examines the implementation of SIP initiatives in 14 Chicago public schools. Data were derived from interviews with principals and advisory committee chairpersons and from…

Compiled from interviews with people involved in various innovative assessment projects in Alaska, this report records the effects on assessment practices of grants from the Alaska Department of Education to school districts and individual teachers during the 1991-92 academic year. After a brief introduction, the report describes assessment…

The integration of academic and vocational education is an educational reform strategy conceptualized by vocational educators, supported by the business community, and articulated by policy makers. Integration may improve the educational and employment opportunities of youth. Integration may offer change in an educational system that is in need of…

Findings of a case study that examined restructuring and organizational change in a California school district over a 12-year period are presented in this paper. The research draws upon the conceptual framework of "adaptive realignment," a process in which an organization continually responds to external and internal changes as they occur. Data…

This paper describes the development and establishment of an inclusive education program on a junior high school campus. Although this is the documentation of secondary programming, with an emphasis on severe disabilities, these "phases" can be generalized to other program areas and levels of education. During phase I, a functional,…

This book illustrates how one school, George Westinghouse Vocational and Technical High School (Brooklyn, New York), has been applying the techniques of total quality management (TQM) to achieve educational change. Following the foreword and introduction, chapter 1 describes TQM, Deming's 14 points, and the challenges of applying TQM to education.…

This paper describes the strategies, issues, activities, and interactions associated with establishing six professional development schools (PDS) as part of the Benedum Project in West Virginia. Establishment of the PDSs was a collaborative project, a school-university partnership between West Virginia University and local school districts. The…

The oversight of state education reforms is explored in this paper, with a focus on the motivations of program fixers and the strategies they use to guide implementation. Fifty-seven interviews were conducted with legislators, committee staff, and legislative agency staff to analyze the program fixing process in six states--Arizona, Louisiana,…

Guidelines for transforming and improving the nation's public schools are presented in this book, with a focus on the regional laboratory's program for educational change. The program is organized around "designing schools for enhanced learning" and is based on three principles--a focus on learning, a systemic approach to change, and…

A new perspective on the practical problems of changing secondary schools to enhance learning is called "the Copernican Plan" because its implementation would change the schools as completely as Copernicus's ideas changed the perception of our solar system. The plan proposes major restructuring of virtually all the basic systems within a…

This paper presents findings from a recently completed study of the use of computers in primary classrooms as one source of evidence concerning the role technology can play in school restructuring efforts. The sites for the study were selected by Apple Computer, Inc. in the spring of 1988 and included 43 classrooms in 10 schools in 6 large, mostly…