Powerful economic, social, and political forces are reshaping schools as well as the perceptions of legislators, government officials, school boards, administrators, teachers, businesses, and parents regarding the kinds of pupil services that are needed in schools. At the national level the trend toward shifting decision-making power away from the…

This guidebook is designed to help educational leaders in the transformation necessary to restructure and empower schools. Chapter 1 outlines major structural problems of the current educational system. Chapter 2 explains specific management techniques for restructuring a school system, from the level of the school building to the level of the…

This document presents the proceedings of a symposium which featured 11 Illinois schools that were selected as successful in their school-improvement efforts and focused on the role of colleges of education in facilitating school reform. The schools included two accelerated schools, one magnet school, and several examples of school-based…

Strategies for changing the organization and operation of school districts to create high-performance learning communities are presented. Chapters address the following areas: (1) the need for systemic and systematic change in school reform; (2) the attributes of high-performance learning communities; and (3) the knowledge base, acts of…

This paper presents interim findings of the Improving the Quality of Education for All (IQEA) Project, a school-improvement and development project implemented by approximately 30 schools in East Anglia, North London, and Yorkshire in England. The overall project goal was to strengthen the school's ability to provide quality education for all…

This paper provides an overview of the role of education and training in the reconstruction and development of South Africa. It describes the history of education and the rationale for reconstruction and development programs. Issues and transitional reform initiatives pertaining to educational policies, general education, tertiary education, adult…

This handbook for Oklahoma school administrators incorporates vital information about school operations and improvement in one volume. It provides detailed information on the following areas: contracts and their due dates; the progress of House Bill 1017; accreditation; federal/special, financial, and professional services; school improvement; and…

This statement by the Research and Policy Committe of the Committee for Economic Development (CED), a nonprofit organization of 250 business leaders and educators, calls for major behavioral changes in those who govern and manage schools in the United States. It articulates an effective incentive structure for students, teachers, and…

This document presents findings of a study that tracked the development of a shared decision-making project in a Florida county school system since its inception in 1989. The impetus for the Shared Decision-Making Project came not from school stakeholders, but from the interplay of national reports, regional problems, state legislation, and local…

The Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory's (McREL's) Mid-continent Alliance focuses on technical areas that must be considered by every school system that is serious about reform. This document contains four articles that focus on four important pieces of the school-reform puzzle: (1) standards and benchmarks for learning; (2)…

An indepth analysis of critical issues in school restructuring is provided in this first of a series of reports. The first article, by Karen Prager describes selected aspects of school restructuring in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, elementary school and illustrates how school-based management can articulate school vision and support teacher cooperation.…

The Conservative Government's education reforms of the past 6 years in England and Wales, beginning with the Education Reform Act of 1988, embody a strategy designed to pursue the following 5 themes: quality, diversity, increased parental choice, and greater school autonomy and accountability. The government's rationale for reform makes no…

Year-round education (YRE) has been brought increasingly to the forefront of the debate over educational reform. Although the results of year-round school studies are mixed, three specific elements are evident in successful programs--reduced curriculum review, increased instructional time, and improved student outcomes. This report introduces the…

Findings from a study that explored teachers' and principals' views on restructuring are presented in this paper. Methodology involved interviews conducted with 14 elementary, middle, and high school teachers and with 15 public school principals in New York, Illinois, and Tennessee. Three issues that will affect the future directions of…

Findings from a study that examined the perceptions of different educational stakeholders about the context of schools and educational change are presented in this paper, which views educational change from within a transformational framework. The focus is not only on goals, but also on the beliefs and expectations of the stakeholders in the…