The authors of this monograph assert that by assisting school systems to more closely resemble "high reliability" organizations (HROs) that already exist in other industries and benchmarking against top-performing education systems from around the globe, America's school systems can transform themselves from compliance-driven…

Materials in this collection were submitted by school districts and programs participating in a "summit" of leaders involved in efforts to reform and restructure education support programs. Program descriptions and supplemental materials are provided for the: (1) Memphis, Tennessee City Schools, where the reform was a comprehensive…

This document is a collection of five reports on school restructuring in Iowa from 1989 to 1993. The first report summarizes the restructuring activities in Iowa school districts during 1989, addresses problems that developed during the year, and chronicles future restructuring events. It also gives a historical perspective on school restructuring…

This book presents essays written by school reformers that discuss the reform movement and examine the partnership that inspired the creation of small, intimate school communities known as charters. They also reflect on the comprehensive changes that inform each charter and the personal and collective struggles to institutionalize these new…

An assessment of the school reform movement, this book focuses on the states of the Deep South--Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Ten articles, organized into three sections, tackle such issues as the role of government in school reform, the professional growth of teachers, and the privatization of schools. Part 1 includes the following: "Public…

This fourth edition of the "ES Review" brings together, in one setting, some of the best work from 2009-10. It features: (1) Teacher Quality (Teachers at Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design (Elena Silva); Understanding Teachers Contracts (Andrew J. Rotherham); How Teachers Unions Lost the Media (Richard Whitmire and…

The Education Commission of the States has found that urban school districts face enormous problems. This document looks at a variety of ideas about how to re-engineer the urban school district. These essays encourage educators and the public to think about the nation's urban school systems and how they might better meet the needs of children. The…

This book describes the creation of new, small, (strictly) public, and relatively autonomous schools that can be chosen by parents, students, and teachers located in Boston and New York City. These schools can be seen as the forerunners of an entirely new and much more democratic American public school system which attempts to achieve genuine…

Contributors to this collection raise questions about the wisdom of the Goals 2000 approach to educational improvement. They present new looks at improving America's schools and creating an educational model based on care, concern, and connection. Chapters include: (1) "Introduction: Setting Sail on a Very Long Voyage" (Evans Clinchy);…

The central issue in educational reform should be how to confront educational inequalities, but the conservative movement has tried to transform the issue from one of inequality to one of "choice." The choice being promoted by conservative forces comes at the expense of community in that it seeks to set up schools that respond to the…

Over 1,000 communities in 45 states, territories, and the District of Columbia, are mobilized under the AMERICA 2000 banner to reach the 6 National Education Goals. This collection of papers, written by those who have wrestled with the process of school reform, offers useful insights to communities as they begin their process of transforming…

This book examines the nature of comprehensive, large scale historical and social changes that contextualize educational reform, and it amplifies the meaning of lessons learned by those who have assisted in change efforts. It also examines how the rhetoric of educational change may fall short of the reality, as translated to processes and…

Selections in this book, which grew from a seminar at New York University between 1994 and 1996, discuss the recent educational innovations of charter schools, contracting arrangements, and choice that are designed to liberate educators and raise the levels of opportunity for all students. The essays, which focus on the urban experience, explore…

Sixteen chapters discuss the relationship among literacy, culture, and difference in education; restructuring school curricula to meet the needs of those traditionally excluded from education's dominant discourse; the social and cultural context of literacy; and literacy's highly political nature. After "Series Introduction: Literacy,…

The essays provided in this book shed light on and initiate debates about important policy issues associated with education reform and improvement. The authors do this by linking conceptual frameworks to past research, analyzing these challenges, and speculating about the contours of future research and school practice. Part 1, Educational…