Findings of a study that examined the relationship between superintendents' leadership styles and educational change are presented in this paper, with a focus on the implementation of the EDUCATION 2000 National Model Schools Network, a site-based school improvement and restructuring initiative of the American Forum for Global Education. The…

Arguments for beginning new schools as a robust alternative to the incremental improvement of existing schools are presented in this paper. The educational improvement approach of starting new schools or programs, rather than making incremental improvements or generating comprehensive change in existing schools, is advocated. Two major types of…

The federal government initiated educational reform measures in the United States long before the subject became a matter of national concern. In recent decades, reform has focused on helping children whose special needs were neglected by the school system. Evidence shows that these efforts have improved services to neglected groups, but without…

This document provides guidelines designed to provide an interactive process for schools and communities to meet students' learning needs. The process, called The Protocol, is designed to ensure that restructuring schools in California focus on students' learning experiences, assess their accomplishments, and provide input from education…

This paper chronicles the organizational life of two high schools in the northeastern United States as they responded to the national impetus for change. The study used a methodology employing ethnographic field study methods including field notes, interviews, and artifact collection and analysis. Riverside High pursued a locally initiated change…

Trends of educational change in (formerly) East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria are examined as restructuring takes place during the establishment of democratic political processes. These trends are culled from over 50 onsite semistructured interviews in August 1990, as part of a longitudinal study to document educational…

Findings from a study that explored the role changes and stresses experienced by superintendents in school districts undergoing school and union restructuring are reported in this paper. Methodology involved interviews and field investigation in five cities--Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Miami, and Rochester. New superintendent roles…

Restructuring is a reorganization that replaces central planning, control, and supervision with a deregulated, decentralized system in which the "bottom line" counts most. Seven explanations for restructuring are outlined, each reflecting a particular position or perspective : (1) a crisis in legitimization involving the dimensions of the…

For the use of teachers and administrators involved in designing and maintaining structures that promote teacher and student engagement, two case studies using pseudonyms were prepared for classroom discussion. The first case, "Hillside High School," describes the process of reforming a traditional school. The second, "City Park Secondary School,"…

Restructuring schools implies not only different organizational structures and different ways of operating, but different underlying assumptions. Restructuring schools would include changes in human relationships, changes in incentive structures, changes in how people work and relate to one another, and changes in some of the assumptions made…

A plan to promote parental school choice, namely, the Cambridge Controlled Choice School Desegregation Plan, is described in this report. The introduction presents a definition and the history of school choice, and the second chapter offers a program description of the community context, an overview of the public school situation in Cambridge,…

It is widely assumed that empowerment represents the organizational transformation strategy to help schools fulfill a broad array of announced goals, such as academic excellence, economic prosperity, military security, and social equity. This paper directs a demystifying light on the rhetoric and rationality of organizational transformation theory…

The AED Center for School and Community Services has applied decades of research to pioneering successful approaches to school reform. It has also evaluated--and helped to advance--some of the most exciting initiatives in American education. In the tradition of AED, the Center defines "education" broadly. Recognizing the interdependence of many…

This paper is focused on the last of the fourth options in the "What Works When" series, a series designed to help district leaders understand what is known about when and under what circumstances each of the four options works to improve student learning. The goal of this series is to help district leaders determine which change is the…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory asked state department of education staff members of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana to recommend Title I schools that had made significant improvement in student achievement. The Title I schools have schoolwide or targeted assistance and vary in size, grade configuration, diversity, and…