This paper examines the contributions of the two dominant theories of school improvement--effective schools and school restructuring--to education. The first section reviews effective schools theory; the second section reviews the school restructuring literature, with attention to its extension of tenets of the effective schools paradigm. Each…

Plans for transforming middle-level schools in Illinois are described in this report, which serves as a guiding document for creating middle-level schools that acknowledge the needs of early adolescence. The report, facilitated by a Carnegie report entitled "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century," describes early…

Proceedings of a conference designed to provide a group of teachers, administrators and university professors with an opportunity to share information on initiating and sustaining innovative programs in education are summarized in this paper. The participants represented 21 exemplary programs in mathematics, science, and/or computer education as…

Ways in which strategies drawn from the local change process literature can enhance the broader implementation of a new approach to site-based management (SBM) are described in this paper. The first section presents a new conceptual framework for SBM that is based on decentralizing power, knowledge, information, and rewards within systemic…

In 1987, the State of Maine encouraged schools to make fundamental organizational changes necessary to ensure that all children are successful in school. This booklet reports on the progress of 10 Maine schools that are wrestling with fundamental questions about the purpose, content, and organization of schooling. Each school is profiled with a…

The concept of systemic school change as a comprehensive approach to raising academic achievement and preventing school dropouts in Massachusetts is summarized in this report. Following a description of systemic school change, reasons for adopting a systemic change approach are offered. Nine princples of systemic school change are provided,…

Existing literature on school-based management (SBM) policy and research is reviewed in this paper, which also highlights several themes related to both why school-based management does not work and how it can be designed to be more effective. The literature review suggests that past studies have tended to be general and descriptive in focus,…

Findings of a study that explored the implications of school restructuring on the changing role of the principal are presented in this paper. Methodology involved a 4-year case study of an elementary school's restructuring effort in a moderately sized suburban school district. The school, located in a district that possessed adequate resources,…

Alternative conceptions of classroom learning are explored in this paper, with a focus on challenging current assumptions about learning, teaching, and creating conditions to improve schools. The constructivist view is offered as a different approach to the behaviorist concept of learning and the metaphor of the classroom as a workplace. From a…

In the United States, education reform has many forms, but one of the most widespread versions is the adoption of performance-based or standards-based education. The basic premise of such reforms is a shift in focus from inputs to outcomes. This publication provides examples and summaries of state initiatives to develop goals, standards, and…

The National Education Commission on Time and Learning (NECT&L) is an independent advisory body, authorized by the United States Congress through Public Law 102-62, the Education Council Act of 1991. The commission is undertaking a comprehensive review of the relationship between time and learning in elementary-secondary education, including…

Problem solving, decision making, and constructing knowledge are skills students need to become active and responsible citizens. However, many students are not receiving these essential skills from their education. Minority students in particular, despite improved academic performance, still perform well below national averages. Restructuring…

This publication describes efforts taken in Indiana to improve middle-grade education. The restructuring of the state's urban middle grades has been supported by Lilly Endowment Inc., which founded the Middle Grades Improvement Program (MGIP), 6 years ago. Despite the lack of an overall middle-grade theme in the state Department of Education and…

This document is the second in a 5-year series of reports presented to the Prichard Committee, which monitors the progress of school reform in Kentucky. Three sections examine different aspects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA)--primary school programs, school-based decision making (SBDM), and family-resource and youth-services centers.…

While examining the broader educational reform movement from a critical perspective, this essay focuses on the national political manifestation of that movement--America 2000. In contrast to more traditional critiques of America 2000, this analysis argues the basic conflict between this reform effort and an "emancipatory definition of substantive…