Data-based decision making has been the mantra of the school reform movement since the late 1980s, but California does not yet have an effective system for collecting and using vital school information. California has taken a number of steps to address this shortcoming. These include the Public School Accountability Act of 1999 and Senate bills…

This paper presents several brief papers about the process of systemic change. These are: (1) Step-Up-To-Excellence: A Protocol for Navigating Whole-System Change in School Districts by Francis M. Duffy; (2) The Guidance System for Transforming Education by Charles M. Reigeluth; (3) The Schlechty Center For Leadership In School Reform by Monica…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) is the most comprehensive reform legislation nationally, bringing substantial change to all levels of the educational system. A group of researchers who have spent time in schools in Kentucky and policy analysts knowledgeable about Kentucky and other state education reform efforts convened in October 1992…

Describes a case study that combined ethnographic and interview methods to gain an understanding of the types of decisions and factors influencing those decisions within the design inquiry phase of a high school's system-transformation effort. Factors discussed include the facilitator's role, information needs, user-based design teams, and…

Offers guidelines for selecting community members for systemic restructuring efforts in public schools. Definitions of community and of systemic restructuring, or educational systems design, are presented; the importance of selection efforts is discussed; a community selection model is described and explained; and further research is suggested.…

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…

States are in the leadership position to effect pervasive and comprehensive changes needed in the educational system. There exist five key dimensions for analyzing initiatives resulting in systemic changes: (1) infusiveness, building upon existing knowledge; (2) pervasiveness, effecting improvements in all key components of the system, including…

Accountability has always been a basic concept in public education, although ideas about how to accomplish it have changed over the years. Problems in urban schools have given rise to the hope that carefully created systems of accountability might spur school improvement and school restructuring. Devising a system of genuine accountability in a…

Using the Kite (a framework for school development) as a diagnostic tool can help schools identify barriers to reform efforts by constructing an authentic picture of the school which can be measured against the qualities and practices of a learner centered environment. The paper describes organizational theories supporting the model. (SM)

The implementation of educational reform in Chicago is discussed. Reform was initiated in Chicago to improve education for all children. A new governance structure is being created for the schools, based on the premise that schools should be under the firm direction of parents and that authority should be vested in the school community, rather…

Describes a plan for a professional development program in educational systems design to prepare facilitators in educational change and restructuring efforts. Highlights include roles in the change process; values and criteria for design; change strategies; emotional stages; attitudinal roadblocks; and needed competencies and skills, including…

Argues that the successes of some urban school districts must be organized into a powerful system that delivers excellence and equity for all school children. This objective can be furthered through the addition of controlled choice to the public-education reform agenda. Controlled choice is within-district public-school choice. (SLD)

Persuaded that quality teaching is the most important way to raise student achievement, the new leadership of the San Diego, California schools initiated a focused set of instructional reforms to "jolt" the system from bottom to top beginning in 1998. Interviews of educators at all levels of the system, district-wide surveys of…

The drive for systemic reform in education reflects a widespread hunger in all sectors of society to make sense of the whole, as is shown in the increasing recognition of people in organizations of the interrelatedness of the organizations' parts. However, many attempts at systemic reform are hampered by the lack of a common view of what an…

This report examines twenty-three schools in their first year of participation in a California-State-sponsored restructuring initiative called Every Student Succeeds (ESS). Four areas of restructuring are reviewed: (1) curriculum and instruction; (2) governance; (3) professional development of teachers; and (4) coordination of community resources.…