When a researcher tests an educational program, product, or policy in a randomized controlled trial and detects a significant effect on an outcome, the intervention is usually classified as something that "works." When expected effects are not found, there is seldom an orderly and transparent analysis of plausible reasons why.…

Hybrid teacher leadership (HTL)--that is, teachers whose official schedule includes both teaching K-12 students and leading teachers in some capacity--seemed poised to evolve as a more systemic enterprise at the turn of the century; however, implementation has been surprisingly sporadic. In this article, we explore Washington (a state long known…

In this descriptive study the aim is to analyze the Hungarian educational policy history and event-chain of the comprehensive and post-comprehensive project. As a structuring framework this paper used the historical landmarks and the different institutional arrangement models (governance types and power distribution models). Accordingly, three…

The OEYP state-funded program provides extended learning for students who are at risk of academic failure. This report summarizes Austin Independent School District's OEYP activities during 2008-2009.

A study of 27 promising programs reveals 8 common reasons that educational innovations fail, including disenchanted practitioners; departure of innovation supporters; lack of personnel training; disappearing funding; inadequate supervision; and lack of accountability, administrative support, and termination consequences. Innovations succeed by…

All planning approaches require a result to be assessed. Images of the planning-implementation cycle's success or failure influence the planning process itself. This article attempts to identify the components that determine success and failure thresholds, develop a success-failure framework, apply the framework to analyze some basic planning…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is not another"add-on" but a wholly reconceived approach to managing educational institutions. Some common start-up problems are lack of feasible leadership commitment, poor data and deployment plans, and inadequate managerial skills. Postlaunch problems include team and measurement mania, overzealous selling of…

The aim of this paper is to indicate how Project Follow Through can contribute to a better-integrated and rationalized federal programming strategy. The first section identifies areas in which federal programs have consistently succeeded or failed and presents reasons why those outcomes are probably the inevitable results of the policy tools that…

As this paper demonstrates, studying abortive educational reforms reveals a great deal about the complex political dynamics involved in making (and unmaking) key policy decisions. Using case studies of France and West Germany, the paper argues that the state in advanced industrial countries tends to maximize the political gains derived from…

Individuals interested in derailing school-based management lurk in most school communities. Some stakeholders are against true decentralization and can play their cards to subvert the process. Illegitimate intransigence can arise at the exploration or commitment stages. A sidebar shows how to defend against sabotage by making critical choices…

In New York City, a $25 million Annenberg grant was targeted to 100 individual schools to empower their staffs via innovative networks and accountability structures. However, the changes that graced the proposals did not create the desired momentum. Targeting school-level groups cannot in itself lead to systemwide change. Problems arose from…

Reviews and assesses numerous educational policy statements of East African countries. Policy outcomes do not match expectations, mainly because of insufficient or no implementation. The reason for failure: vaguely stated policies and incompletely analyzed financing implications. Pleads for more concrete, feasible policies based on documented…

Difficulties with selecting a coordinator for Delaware's newly approved RE:LEARNING pilot project foreshadowed later obstacles to achieving planned reforms. Unlike other states, communities, and schools, Delaware schools were not seen as desperate enough to need comprehensive reforms. Affluent parents upheld the status quo, and state officials…

Although the public school choice plan implemented in Richmond, California, in 1987 through 1990 received much favorable publicity, the school district filed for bankruptcy in 1991. This paper describes the plan and the events preceding financial collapse and presents data on student absenteeism, dropout rates, test scores, and school…

A study focused on promotion/retention policies, retention rates, and the problems/objectives associated with their implementation. Thirty-three of the 43 members of the Council of the Great City Schools responded to a survey that measured three demographic characteristics: the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch; the…