Reform, diversity of society, and an array of standards and guidelines challenge leaders to provide successful learning for teachers and students. The Professional Learning Community (PLC) concept offers a viable approach to address those challenges. Research indicates that schools need to function as learning communities where teachers and…

Several aspects of unplanned system change in schools are investigated in this paper. Researchers relied heavily on current theoretical perspectives on the nature of educational systems, particularly those that emphasize the "loosely coupled" nature of educational organizations. Two hypotheses were tested. The first is that natural…

Like most other reform endeavors, the current restructuring movement may fail. Advocates often oversimplify restructuring, overlooking serious underlying issues, such as the politics of organizational change, and ingrained U.S. schooling characteristics, including inclusiveness, deep structure, knowledge industry influences, growth of state power,…

The understanding and management of the changes called for by fundamental restructuring are discussed in this sixth guidebook in a series of nine video conferences on school restructuring. Offered are a summary of school improvement over the last 30 years, a systems framework for individual and team changes, and strategies for organizational…

Examines the organizational implications of the recent education reform panels and commissions, including the question of expected linkage between reports and action at the local level. Looks at the commissions as ceremonies with deep symbolic meaning and the potential power to express, shape, reorganize, or create educational values. (RDN)

To identify critical postimplementation events and school-related factors that affect the continuation of new classroom practices, qualitative data were collected in 14 elementary and secondary schools representing a mix of settings. Efforts to improve the schools' instructional programs in either basic skills, career education, or citizen…

Empirical research pertaining to the relationship between external agencies' decisions and the implementation of these decisions suggests two conclusions. First, the implementors of change are likely to view externally initiated change with apprehension and resistance, and second, when external agencies initiate change, the result depends on…

This paper presents organizational strategies and implementation methods for conversion to middle school organization (scheduled to take place in 1988) in the Johnson City, Tennessee, school system. Carried out by the district in partnership with local institutions of higher education, the study focuses on what is educationally best for the child…

This paper describes the development of an inclusive special education program in 12 elementary schools in an urban Colorado school district. Specifically, the study examined the role of leadership in program implementation. Leadership is defined as a reciprocal, multidirectional, noncoercive influence that involves multiple leaders and followers…

The Netherlands' New Basic School was implemented in the mid-1980s to increase individualized instruction and curriculum differentiation in the earliest grades and to improve schools' capacity to serve students with varying learning needs and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Under the plan, preschools and primary schools were brought…

Describes and praises ways in which the Holmes Group report, committed to redesigning the education of teachers, goes beyond prior movements to reform teacher education. Urges the active cooperation of universities, granting agencies, politicians, faculties, teachers, and others in supporting and accomplishing the required changes. (IW)

In 1995, the Albuquerque (New Mexico) school district devised a plan to merge special education, cross-cultural education, Indian education, and Title I with the general education program, designated the Unified Education System (UES). Considering the abrupt implementation of UES in the first year and subsequent confusion regarding staff positions…

This synthesis of recent literature on school effectiveness offers educators empirical research on which to base plans for staff development and school improvement. The introduction notes the limitations of effective schools research and points out its potential to clarify thought about schools. A section on instruction reviews research on…