Finland has, as of late, become an inspiration for American school reform. There is no denying that we have much to learn from the Finnish system and it rightly deserves its global accolades. However, over the course of the following pages, I would like to suggest that it is also lucrative to look north of the 49th parallel and consider the…

During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state's largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly…

This "Fifth-Year Report" from the Evaluation of the Comprehensive School Reform Program Implementation and Outcomes (ECSRIO) is the final report on the outcomes of the federally funded Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program. It presents findings about the relationship between participation in the U.S. Department of Education's…

The purpose of this guide is to help chronically struggling schools restructure. "Restructuring" means major, rapid changes that affect how a school is led and how instruction is delivered. Restructuring is essential in achieving rapid improvements in student learning. The focus is on helping education leaders choose strategies that…

Findings from a study that examined the attitudes of California school district superintendents toward school restructuring are presented in this paper. Interviews were conducted with a total of 30 superintendents and senior staff members in 22 California school districts to explore their orientations toward school restructuring in general and…

Restructuring of schools by means of revising the school calendar from the traditional 9-month calendar to a year-round calendar is one reform idea proposed to meet the diverse abilities and needs of students. Considering the sweeping changes influenced by No Child Left Behind and the trend toward excellence in education, this research focused…

An assessment of the relative and absolute impact of various educational reform movements on student learning and an analysis of school superintendents' roles in such movements are the purposes of this study. Mailed surveys to 70 experienced New York school superintendents yielded a 78.6 percent response rate. The first phase focused on the…

This document describes outcomes of the Arizona School Restructuring Pilot Project, implemented in Arizona in 1990. The project provided 11 elementary and 4 high schools, selected in a competitive grant process, with the opportunity to pilot their restructuring plans over a 4-year period (1990/91-1993/94). Data were obtained from a survey of key…

This examination of the New American Schools Development Corporation initiative in Bensenville (Illinois) details the controversy over the reform effort and argues that factors such as school governance, local control, and school finance played major roles in determining program outcomes. The importance of political influences in reform efforts is…

This work provides school change leaders with tools, techniques, tips, examples, illustrations, and stories about promoting school change. Tools provided include histograms, surveys, run charts, weighted voting, force-field analysis, decision matrices, and many others. Chapter 1, "Introduction," applies a matrix for asking questions…

The schoolwide project option of the 1988 Hawkins Stafford Amendments to Chapter 1 allowed a rural school serving a disadvantaged Native American population to restructure its compensatory and regular education services. Santo Domingo school (New Mexico) illustrates the ways modifications of federal law and policy benefit children. (SLD)

Beginning in 1989, 12 urban middle schools were able to draw on the resources of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to work toward systemic reform. The five school districts supported by this initiative pledged to focus on high expectations, high content, and high support for students. Most of the schools, in Baltimore (Maryland), Milwaukee…

This paper describes Florida Uniting Students with Exceptionalities, a public school/university collaboration to implement inclusion strategies for meeting needs of students with mild disabilities in a district engaged in general education restructuring. The paper reviews the philosophical, political, policy, and logistical challenges encountered;…

From 1976 to 1983 major reforms were enacted in Chile in the vocational training systems, based on four principles: decentralization, integration, diversification, and participation. The vocational training system in Chile is a legally established, market-oriented system in which many private training agencies compete to sell their services to…

This compendium contains 40 ERIC Digests published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management from 1988 to 1991. Listed alphabetically by title, the digests discuss a wide range of topics related to school management and administrative responsibilities, followed by 8 to 15 references. Topics covered include AIDS/HIV education; evaluation…