This paper reviews a descriptive model that attempts to build a relationship between funding and school effectiveness. The model describes schools in terms of their component parts. The model allows policymakers to make assumptions about how much improvement in student performance should be expected as a result of changes in funding. It also…

Examines teacher reactions to an Oregon law designed to restructure public education around Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery. Over 2,000 educators in 92 schools completed surveys. Responses showed cautious support for reform ideas, tempered with skepticisms concerning implementation. Rural teachers were more critical of the plan. (50…

In 1991, the Oregon State Legislature passed the Educational Act for the 21st Century. Since then, schools around the state have reacted in a variety of ways in an attempt to meet or avoid the law's requirements. A survey of schools and focus-group data from 18 Oregon schools were used to examine the policy articulation process from three…

This paper explores educator reactions to Oregon's House Bill 3565, officially the "Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century," and describes how and why reactions differ among individuals and schools. The act differs from those enacted by other states in that it mandates changes that are not incremental and focuses on the…

This book looks at the issue of the transfer of power from the local (district and school) level to the state and national levels. It traces the origins of the process, examines the implications, and considers where these changes might lead. More specifically, the book explores the direction of education policy and the way in which both…