This article uses an institutional framework to analyze the political context of the next reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The authors analyze three relevant factors in the institutional environment: the role of traditional party politics, including theories of divided versus unified party government; the entrance of…

Illustrates fundamental principles of introducing change in educational institutions. Describes the strategies by which a low-status member of an organization can create a climate conducive to the implementation of changes consistent with their agenda. Suggests that this role of catalyst is quite different from that of the conventional change…

Discussion of educational reform/renewal involves consideration of the institutional characteristics of schooling. Schools have underlying patterns of conduct, belief, and values that provide meaning to the ongoing activities of learning. These patterns and assumptions of school life have tended to produce standardized educational experiences,…

Although schools have served as a major target of both educational and mental-health oriented interventions, they have shown a marked tendency to assimilate innovative programs into existing patterns. This paper analyzes the sources and manifestations of resistance to change in schools and discusses the implications of such resistance for the…

This article discusses the social and educational conditions that have supported the development of teacher centers, using a perspective from social anthropology, Malinowski's "functional" theory of institutions. Teacher centers are seen as a reflection of growing teacher power in a climate of shifting authority structures. (SJL)

Public school teachers often work in "classroom cells" that are "symbols and predictive of their relative isolation from one another and from sources of ideas beyond their own background of experience." This type of environment, where teachers rarely join in collaborative endeavors and spend little of their professional time with other adult…

This paper presents the initial findings of a comprehensive 28-school multi-site case study, which sought to identify patterns in schools that are changing bureaucratic work patterns to those found in quality-management systems. The schools are located in Florida, Virginia, Minnesota, and Louisiana; all are led by principals who are trainers in…

Examines superintendents', principals', and teachers' coping strategies for dealing with externally imposed problems or disruptive change in four Manitoba school divisions. Identifies seven major coping strategies and analyzes them in terms of strategic choice theory versus environmental determinist theory. Contains 30 references. (SV)

Interviews with nine principals of Hong Kong schools found that faced with uncertainties arising from Hong Kong's political transition, principals were somewhat confident about coping with changes in curricula and school management but felt less control over broader changes in access and opportunity following the expected influx of teachers and…

This paper explores the often elusive yet very important relationship between architectural design and educational reform. A review of the major findings from the educational and architectural research literatures on the impacts of school design on educational program effectiveness is presented. Commonalities among the disciplines were identified…

A discussion is presented on the education of Japanese teachers, their roles in the schools, and proposed reforms in their education. In describing the pre-World War II background of teacher education in Japan, three ideological forces are discussed: Western thought that impacted upon early Meiji reforms, Confucianism, and nationalism. Western…

This book examines the role of the educational service agency (ESA) in the process of enabling and facilitating rural school improvement. The introductory chapter discusses the continuing significance of rural education, service to rural districts as an explicit reason for establishing ESAs, and the characteristics of several types of ESAs.…

Mathematics education is different in rural schools than in non-rural schools. An explanation for this can be found in an open social systems model of schools, in which schools are comprised of interdependent subsystems that function together to transform inputs into outcomes. These are open systems in that external forces in the environment…

Downsizing schools--creating small schools, schools-within-schools, and small learning communities--has been a highly favored school reform strategy of recent years, one that is supported by considerable research. Yet for many of these schools, the going has not been easy, bedeviled by bureaucratic resistance, public misunderstanding, and…

Staff interviews addressed the changing roles and relationships between principals of one-teacher schools and administrators of the North West Region of the New South Wales Department of School Education. Over a five-year period, the approaches employed by administrators to implement departmental policy changes altered significantly and resulted…