"Job role dissonance" may be experienced by educators who embrace an alternative paradigm for working with students having learning problems. Institutional and other obstacles to true restructuring and better service delivery may include legal mandates, the systemic nature of schools, parents' belief systems, and time limitations of staff.…

A critical problem in Japanese high school education is lack of fit between uniform curriculum and students' heterogeneous interests and abilities. This article explores policy initiatives to restructure and diversify high school education. Innovative high schools with "comprehensive" programs are emerging at a time when U.S. schools are…

Questions whether William Rainey Harper was responsible for David Starr Jordan's and Benjamin Ida Wheeler's advocacy of the municipal junior college in California; whether Jordan and Wheeler introduced the idea to Senator Anthony Caminetti prior to his introduction of the bill permitting six-year high schools; and what constitutes sufficient…

Uses a case study approach to determine how a rural supervisory union school district and its communities attempted to improve the union's economic feasibility and address important school needs. Efforts appear to have resulted in greater teacher involvement, commitment, and ownership of subsequent changes and promotion of teachers to…

Provides an overview of keynote speakers and issues addressed at the 1992 National Conference of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) held in Baltimore (Maryland). Highlights include educational reform and restructuring; librarians as enablers of change; programs to help with change; and electronically based projects. (LRW)

Proposes a strategy for educational reform that provides a supportive state policy structure of sustained school-level reform. Three coordinated components are described: a unifying vision and goals; a coherent instructional guidance system including guidelines for curriculum frameworks, materials, professional development, and assessment; and a…

Examines whether Canadians see a need for change in their public schools and the role of educational technologists in the change process. Three strategies to help educational technologists improve K-12 education are suggested: school system reorganization; teacher training; and the diffusion/adoption approach (i.e., acting as external change…

Discusses the history of curriculum theory, reasons for the gap between theory and practice, and propositions for improving the relationship. Literature shows little progress in reducing the gap. Three movements may offer theorists and practitioners more curriculum control and reduce the gap: empowering teachers, professionalizing teaching, and…

The Family/School/Community Participation Project restructured Florida State University's affiliated K-12 school through three phases: (1) School as Family, preparing teachers and administrators to create a supportive school environment; (2) Family Outreach, involving the school in helping families with a supportive home environment; and (3)…

Two decades after helping a school begin the transition to middle level, observations are made of the results of middle school planning, implementation, and evaluation. Chief areas of focus were interdisciplinary teaming, block scheduling, exploratory activities, and an adviser-advisee arrangement. (MLF)

A Michigan high school abandoned its coercive school management practices for a system actively involving students in decision making. To help students feel they could make a difference, the Reaching Success through Involvement format was used to identify six workable student-involvement areas: extracurricular activities, school governance,…

Presents an interview with Linda Darling-Hammond, codirector of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST). Topics discussed include educational reform; the role of technology in redesigning schools; reducing school size; teacher training; alternative assessment methods; curriculum changes; barriers to school…

Concerned Women for America opposes transformational outcome-based education because it coopts parents and shifts the focus from cognitive education to affective education. Children belong to their parents, not the state. Education should provide the essential academics that, combined with the values and beliefs learned at home, will determine…

Describes restructuring in a Western Australian school district. Provides background information and summarizes findings of a case study exploring what primary teachers thought about the restructuring of their work. The 60 teachers interviewed generally thought the restructuring process negatively influenced their curriculum work. Teachers felt…

Fourteen teachers with diverse school roles were interviewed about their views on the U.S. educational reform movement and their own ideas for change. Results suggest that the teachers are optimistic about the possibilities of fundamental school reform in the future but skeptical about their ability to change the current system. (Author/LB)