This monograph is the third in a series of polls of the leadership of America's major public school systems. In addition to surveying board members, superintendents, and other leadership staff, this poll also included urban mayors and representatives of colleges and universities who work with staff and students of the member cities of the Council…

As part of the evaluation of the Ninth Grade Restructuring Program of the Detroit Public Schools, Ninth Grade Administrators were asked to select an academic or support program that they found to be successful in their schools. The overall purpose of the restructuring project is to enable the provision of programs, resources, and services that…

Between the close of the first World War and the beginning of the second, approximately two decades, several European nations that had not previously done so maintained democratic forms of government. In that period they tried to arrange their school systems in such a way as to educate their children for life in democracies. Their moves in that…

Some time ago the Commissioner of Education was requested to offer advice in regard to the reorganization of the Francis Scott Key School, to meet more effectively the needs of its children and the adult population of that section, and to suggest plans for a building to be so constructed as to adapt it to the use of the school so reorganized. In…

Discusses the emerging interest in media education, or media literacy, and its impact on the role of the school library media specialist. Highlights include the school reform and restructuring movement; the impact of technology on literacy; the role in civic education and in health education; and media education support organizations. (Contains 17…

Considers educational change, school restructuring, and the role of technology. Topics addressed include instructional technology and a history of educational reform, including competency-based education, teacher education, efficiency and effectiveness of teachers, the role of teachers, administrators, students, business, and government, and…

Many public schools are turning their administration over to private enterprise. The same logic suggests an advantage to privatizing instructional services. What this might mean is discussed. Educational quality and cost effectiveness might be enhanced if the antipathy of public-sector educators to the private sector can be overcome. (SLD)

Considers the future role of library media services based on a review of past history. Topics include the separation of church and state in education; public schools and school libraries; library standards; the role of government; and current trends, including microcomputers and other technological developments, outcome-based education, and…

Presents strategies for improving student academic achievement and U.S. school productivity. Among the strategies are the following: making student achievement a priority goal for schools, enhancing and toughening the curriculum, managing all educational resources at the school and classroom levels, providing a variety of system incentives towards…

Ten state-of-the-art articles discuss current developments in educational media and technology. Topics examined include research, school restructuring, networking, information technology, telecommunications, and contemporary social issues. Five of the articles are also published as ERIC Digests. All of the articles contain references. (SLW)

Identifies a set of change leadership functions including sustaining a vision for change, encouraging staff, modifying standard operating procedures, and monitoring progress. Suggests that these functions do contribute to change, but are also performed redundantly by persons in a variety of overlapping roles, including central office personnel,…

Argues for the development of school-wide reform plans derived from research on individual differences in learning and effective school practices. Data are presented from three urban schools where a systematic school restructuring effort enabled the establishment of strong family-school-community connections and effective and efficient delivery of…

Describes planning backwards, the Coalition of Essential Schools' educational policymaking strategy for high schools. The article discusses five possible dilemmas in planning backwards: outcomes or exhibitions, local or remote authority, rigid or flexible standards, apartness or authenticity in assessment, and curriculum scaffolds built of courses…

Provides a legislative view of the development of the Wisconsin Parental Choice Plan mandated for the city of Milwaukee, placing this initiative in the context of the educational needs of African American children. Argues that legislators must target the complex needs of poor and ethnic minority students in urban schools. (AF)

Using public school reform efforts in Chicago (Illinois), this essay attempts to provide a theoretical framework for understanding how the educational governance system responds to political and social value conflicts and discusses how opposing interests have periodically compromised rather than resolved these conflicts. (SLD)