Examines two reform efforts that indicate promising strategies for changing and improving urban school district decision- and policy-making systems, particularly as those systems reflect the relationships among boards of education, school superintendents, and the school district bureaucracy. (Author/IRT)

Discusses the construction and feasibility of World Wide Web-based learning environments (WBLEs) for distance education, looking at issues in distance education and Web-based technologies, suggesting guidelines for creation of WBLEs, and presenting findings from a current research effort to illustrate the guidelines. Considers both the potential…

Four grade-9 mathematics teachers in Canada were studied over one year as they implemented destreaming (detracking), which was an externally induced reform in their school system. Implementation of the destreaming had an immediate negative effect on teacher expectations of their own efficacy, but their beliefs rebounded over the year. (SLD)

Recounts a university's attempt to create a more rigorous and rewarding sociology program. Utilizing recommendations from the American Sociological Association the university introduced four levels of sequencing consisting of introductory courses, skills courses, advanced substantive courses, and capstone courses. Concludes that this was a…

An analysis of increases in federal regulation of student financial aid since 1959 looks at changes in both volume and substance of the regulations, and the costs of implementing them. Federal initiatives to form partnerships with institutions in managing student aid are noted, including quality assurance efforts and innovative experiments in…

The implementation of a shared decision making (SDM) project in a large public secondary school was studied for three years. Factors that enhanced the SDM process were the confidence stakeholders had in themselves, resource availability, creation of democratic rules and procedures, early and concrete accomplishments, and the principal's support.…

Describes the experience of a conservative, suburban school system making the change from traditional classroom instruction to more developmentally appropriate practices. Discusses the planning and implementation process, focusing particularly on the issues of skills acquisition, assessment, staff development, and parent involvement. (TJQ)

Provides an overview of the Whole Village Project in Boston (Massachusetts), a two-year project that fosters partnerships among parents, teachers, administrators, and community members to bring about comprehensive reform in these urban schools. Each school identified its own most urgent problem and then developed a comprehensive approach through…

The Australian government's reform policy treats education as a mechanism for economic development. To achieve national goals, the government is stressing skills education, private-sector involvement in skills education, increased participation in education, increased school retention rates, improvement in overall education quality, and…

Pedagogical alternatives for preparing student to make the transition from school to work are examined and synthesized into six key components of successful transition programs. Four desired outcomes of program participation include connecting theory and practice, developing maturity, gaining personal awareness, and attaining professional insight.…

Discusses the school board's role in technology-based reform, shaping and assessing the vision for technology implementation, and resources for school boards. Describes several technology projects in which the National School Boards Association is engaged. (AEF)

Argues for a new organizational culture of collaboration in the community college, one defined by student-centered goals. Discusses several projects that employ this new partnership model, specifically Santa Ana College's (California) Summer Scholars Transfer Institute, which developed from a collaborative assessment by the internal and external…

Studied the Heritage Project, a federally sponsored program to develop and implement social studies curricula based on local history and cultural traditions in three rural areas. Results offer insight into educational change initiatives and problems with top-down program implementation. (SLD)

Investigates the effects on students' literacy learning of implementing recommended practices for primary programs, mandated in Kentucky's sweeping education-reform effort. Finds that students taught by four "high implementing" teachers outperformed students of "low implementing" teachers on every measure of literacy…

This volume provides the background of the Kentucky Education Reform Act and discusses the assessment and evaluation principles on which it is based. It reviews early steps in implementation of the Act's mandates, but was written before most of the battles of implementation had begun. (SLD)