A shift in federal policy is causing Americans to examine the basic values and aspirations of public education, and the "schools of choice" debate must address the following significant issues: (1) effectiveness; (2) equity; (3) governance and accountability; (4) resource allocation; (5) mission; (6) sociological factors; (7) psychological…

Educational facility planners can work with educators to design learning environments for the future as places that will be flexible, adaptable, and readily reconfigured when appropriate. Planners and educators need to understand the effectiveness of learners, teachers, and organizations. (MLF)

Supports William Clune's focus on outputs, rather than inputs and procedures. However, national and state standard setting and systemic reform would foster more school improvement and educational equity than the single-school approach. Focus on outcomes allows considerable local curricular discretion. Schools should be held accountable for student…

Offers an interim review of the implementation of the local management of schools (LMS) initiative. A model for LMS as an organizational form termed "decentralized management" is advanced and applied critically to understand aspects of the restructuring currently taking place within the British educational system. (48 references) (MLF)

Provides a sequentially integrated approach to educational policy development. By incorporating analyses of educational decision-making basics, accepted site-based management practices, sound educational research, assessment of policy values, and a disciplined decision-making process, campus management teams can provide the effective, proactive…

A Colorado school district has adopted Total Quality Management (TQM) to improve quality and reduce costs. The basic components that drive continuous improvement in TQM are focusing on responding to customer needs, basing decisions on data, and allowing everyone to participate in the process. (MLF)

Examples of school systems that are using technology effectively show that school districts should take the following steps: (1) link measurable educational purposes with technology; (2) manage organizational and instructional changes to support technology; (3) create a long-term infrastructure plan for the entire school district; and (4)…

America's public education system has inadequately prepared its youth for the workplace. Parents can play a role in solving this problem by spending time with their children, carefully choosing day care facilities, becoming involved in their children's education, rewarding good performance, and stressing values. (BC)

Builds on earlier contributions to the literature on educational leadership and total quality management in education. Introduces two new tools--the service guarantee and the House of Quality, placing them in the context of strategic marketing, structural change, and other total quality management methods. (19 references) (MLH)

Discusses the growth of the assessment movement, reviews the different measures of student performance being requested by state agencies, and describes institutional responses to state mandates. Offers guidelines for implementing an effective assessment program. (DMM)

Sketches major arguments in the discussion on school autonomy and links these with debates on school quality. Argues that although autonomy may entail debureaucratization, it does not require the withdrawal of the state. Shows how concepts of market and competition in pedagogical contexts differ from those in economic contexts. (DSK)

Argues that recent changes in conceptions of state control over schools are due partially to the relaxation of Cold War politics. Shows that new models of management produce fewer changes in school quality than expected. Proposes that the determining factor in change is the mentality inherent in individual schools' working structures. (DSK)

Improving student achievement hinges on adopting effective, research-based learning practices and activities. These include parent involvement, graded homework, direct teaching, aligned time on task, tutoring, cooperative learning, mastery learning, and teaching of learning strategies. Three high-achieving schools are profiled. (MLH)

Identifies characteristics of good (Australian) senior secondary schools, defined as those providing postschool options for students. The most successful schools were the larger independent girls' schools with predominantly transformational leadership practices that promoted positive teacher perceptions of school organization and of students'…

Reports initial construct validity and reliability of a new measure of the organizational/supervisory climate of schools. The new measure contained six subscales validated by using three recognized indices of school effectiveness: school productivity, organizational effectiveness, and school holding power. Results support the OSCI's validity and…