University-based teacher education faces intensifying pressure to prove its effectiveness. This has prompted renewed interest in program redesign. In this article, we argue that enacting meaningful redesign requires university-based teacher educators to learn new ways of thinking and acting not only with teacher candidates but also with their…

Teacher leaders are positioned to help other teachers reflect on their practice, try new pedagogical approaches, and work through instruction-related struggles--ultimately, leading to a change in instructional practice. In order to be effective in their new leadership roles, however, teacher leaders need support in developing leadership skills and…

Despite the key role that principals play in leading schoolwide change, districts' efforts to support principals are often limited, particularly in rural settings. In this article, we report the preliminary findings of a cross-district mentoring program for nine midcareer rural school principals. The collaboratively developed human resource…

Our current education system is based on Fordism, a mass production model that separated narrowly skilled workers and centralized resources. Michael Hammer's principles of flexible design (which include developing a cross-functional perspective, organizing around outcomes, encouraging worker self-sufficiency, combining information processing with…

Only by providing schools with a choice of valid, well-supported models of schooling can we make the change process manageable for school personnel and satisfy the conflicting demands of the public. Education professionals have the expertise to sort through the many puzzle pieces of school reform and assemble coherent, detailed schooling images…

Describes the Small Grants Award program developed by the North Country School Study Council and the Central New York School Study Council to help finance innovative projects proposed by teachers. (JG)

This paper discusses designing an individual higher education (IHE) teacher training program that focuses on the instructional needs of limited-English-proficient students (LEP). The paper seeks to accomplish the following: excite individuals to want to participate in building a new paradigm in teacher training for teachers of all LEP students;…

An analysis of data collected from 30 urban districts indicates that there are encouraging developments in urban education which are exemplified by a number of successful programs. These include work-study programs, arts in education programs, programs which incorporate community resources, and alternative education programs. Five generalizations…

This paper describes the initial efforts of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC), a private, nonprofit corporation created as part of the American 2000 initiative to fund the development of new designs for American schools. NASDC is currently funding nine teams to develop and demonstrate designs for high-performing schools.…

An inservice model for school personnel was designed and used in 181 school systems in Kentucky. The model consists of seven time-specific phases and four generic activities that apply to each of the phases. The time phases are: (1) preliminary planning; (2) needs assessment; (3) goal and objective setting; (4) task, activity, and resource…

In the past, organizations have had problems during the implementation phase of Program Planning Budgeting Systems (PPBS). Under the approach developed by the Educational Management Development Center (EMDEC), several school systems develop similar PPB systems, with EMDEC as the coordinating hub. District personnel are first familiarized with the…

This Digest examines the key issues surrounding the implementation of schoolwide reform. It discusses how whole-school reform results can be dramatic but that schools must take special care with implementing the reforms. It examines the importance of outside assistance in reform efforts and reports that design teams are typically used by schools…

This report describes a practicum project that attempted to develop a management by objectives (MBO) model appropriate for use in the Newington (Connecticut) public school system and to train selected Newington administrators in the use of this management system. The Newington MBO model was designed to cope with a number of existing problems in…

This paper provides school district administrators with a structured method for developing school programs aimed at reducing the risk of adolescent dropout. The methodology encompasses problem definition, fact finding, mission management, overcoming inertia, cohering programs tied to theory, feasible goal-setting, and normative personnel…