This article discusses how the call for families' active participation in school can be understood as a form of regulatory act producing neoliberal subjectivities based on responsibility, entrepreneurship and rational calculation. The analysis draws on the results of two projects aiming to improve the relationship between families of Spanish Roma…

In England the balance of responsibilities between national and local government for the governance of education is changing. Relationships between schools are shifting and new structures, groups and alliances are being created in response to national policy. The article is part of a project to understand how the new local education landscapes are…

This article explores student empowerment in a restructured urban Title I middle school. The study includes data from eight participants in an action research project that involved a critical inquiry unit in an eighth-grade language arts class that asked students, "How are you empowered and disempowered by school?" Findings reveal that…

The introduction of English and other foreign languages as media of instruction, which is generally referred to as content and language integrated learning (CLIL), has transformed the teaching experiences of a large number of educators. Yet their daily struggles and personally ambivalent stances have hardly been examined. This paper addresses this…

Research to date about the English government's policy to make schools independent of local authorities (LAs) has looked at the "macro" level of national policy and at the "micro" level of the institution. The study of which this article is a part, explores changes at the "meso" level--the locality. The article…

Following his previous article in this journal on the centralisation of power in English education post the 1988 Education Reform Act ("The Era of Centralisation", "FORUM", 50[2], pp. 255-261), the author considers the apparent turn to school autonomy central to the Conservative Educational Revolution. He argues that the power…

With the American School Counselor Association's (ASCA) adoption of the National Model, school counselors are called to align their work with educational reform initiatives and provide leadership in public schools (Dollarhide, 2003). School counseling literature supporting leadership for social justice is frequently reiterated (Hatch & Bowers,…

To understand the role of the media in schooling and school reform, it is necessary to examine how the media collude in the construction of the political spectacle, which Edelman (1988) called a meaning machine of alternative realities. The media uses spectacle to generate points of view, perceptions, anxieties, aspirations, and strategies to…

Examines the concept, implications, and dilemmas of school restructuring, whose meanings are confusing and complex. Restructuring can be synonymous with top-down reform or ruthless retrenchment or can signify redefined power relationships in classrooms, staff rooms, and schooling communities. This paper identifies four restructuring dilemmas…

Tasmania's history of reforms in state education administration were inspired yet pragmatic responses to social, political, and economic crises. A progressive devolution of managerial responsibility to schools and colleges between 1982 and 1989 resulted in little movement of governance powers. Hughes's state corporate managerialism has not proved…

Partnerships between universities and public schools that recognize the interdependence and mutual benefits derived from an alliance have become a cornerstone of educational restructuring (C. Dean, P. Lauer, & V. Urquhart, 2005; J. L. Goodlad, 1991; Holmes Group, 1990). Although interrelated, these partners exist in distinctive milieus in which…

With the failure of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to adopt the governor's education reform package, the time is opportune to review the major problems with education in Pennsylvania and some actions that would relieve these problems. The main symptom of education problems, in Pennsylvania as in the nation as a whole, is weak academic…

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…

Research shows that small schools and schools within schools can yield positive outcomes for students and improved satisfaction and effectiveness among school staff. Small schools can be less costly than larger ones if judged by expenditure per graduate instead of cost per pupil enrolled. Examination of the policy environments of urban schools in…