American public education has gradually evolved from a focus on the "disciplined mind" attainable by only a few to a focus on observable outcomes, purportedly attainable by all. This book offers a historical study of assessment, standards, outcomes, and criticism in U.S. public schools. Chapter 1 provides a selective history of education, focusing…

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…

What does comprehensive or systemic restructuring look like, and how does it affect the students and staff of a high school that undertakes such an effort? This guidebook describes a model for comprehensive high school restructuring, discusses how 10 high schools undergoing restructuring are addressing the 7 critical elements of the restructuring…

The Education Commission of the States has found that urban school districts face enormous problems. This document looks at a variety of ideas about how to re-engineer the urban school district. These essays encourage educators and the public to think about the nation's urban school systems and how they might better meet the needs of children. The…

The RAND study of change agent programs, explored the innovative process in local school systems. Specifically, it sought to identify the impact of these federal programs on local educational systems: the Elementary Secondary Education Act, Title III; Vocational Education; ESEA Title VII (Bilingual Projects); and the Right to Read Program. This…

In the spirit of educational reform efforts, this digest examines the concept of teacher-as-researcher, a concept rooted in action research. Action research is designed, conducted, and implemented by teachers themselves to improve teaching in the classroom. The research is often a collaborative activity promoting reflective teaching, critical…

Site-based management has become a popular school reform strategy. However, conflicts can arise when school districts with collective bargaining try to implement site-based management. Site-based management depends on collaboration and cooperation among educators, both of which conflict with collective bargaining's adversarial nature. There is…

During the 1980s, Massachusetts' public commitment to increase educational funding was not carried through. To determine state educational funding for the decade, the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight compared Massachusetts with nine other comparable states in expenditures per pupil, expenditures per capita, and expenditures per $1,000…

This document presents findings of a study that examined the impact of teacher teaming on the implementation of a comprehensive program of curriculum and instruction. The program, Complex Instruction (CI), was implemented in four middle schools in the Riverdale School District (Arizona), each of which utilized some form of teaming instruction. CI…

This digest discusses issues in the selection of an appropriate focus for a focus school. Schools with a theme and schools targeted for particular students, which are both components of the focus-school genre, have long been a part of the nation's education system. A number of school districts, especially in urban areas, have established focus…

Living in a world-class society with information-age technology challenges American educators to improve their communication and collaboration skills. Recent discussions concerning the school counselor's role in education emphasized the need to achieve a clearer understanding of this role in educational reform, and a desire to improve counselor…

To answer the question of how to build the capacity of state and local educational systems to implement systemic reform, the National Governors' Association (NGA) convened two meetings of educators and policymakers and commissioned three supporting papers from knowledgeable educators. This volume contains an overview report of the conferences and…

The recent movement to restructure schools has raised fundamental questions: Can changes in school structure improve student performance? Under what conditions might some structures be more effective than others? This document presents findings from Lee and Smith's study that examined the role of school restructuring on student performance.…

School/site-based management requires shifting the initiative in public schools from legislators, school boards, superintendents, central administrative offices, and unions, to individual schools. The purpose of school/site-based management is to increase student achievement and success by making those closest to the delivery of educational…

Outcomes of a restructuring project implemented in a North Carolina high school in 1987 are described in this paper. The Lead Teacher Model restructured the decision-making processes for both resource allocation and school scheduling. At the Alpha County High School, eight elected lead teachers taught part-time and, in addition assisted the…