Understanding what change is and how schools change determines the success of school reform. This paper addresses the nature of the change process at the individual level. Two assumptions are made about change. First, behavior is based on beliefs and values, and individuals, not groups or organizations, change. Second, change must satisfy the…

This book provides new tools for thinking about and designing the education system. Four sections, each with its own introduction, follow Charles M. Reigeluth's introductory chapter, "Introduction: The Imperative for Systemic Change." Section 1 describes some theoretical frameworks for understanding the "big ideas" of system…

This book provides an overview of education reform in 27 countries. Following the introduction by Peter W. Cookson, Jr., Alan R. Sadovnik, and Susan F. Semel, part 1 offers national case studies of educational reform in the 1980s. Chapters include: (2) "Argentina" (Ana Munoz-Sandoval); (3) "Australia" (Richard Teese); (4) "Brazil" (Robert Cowen…

This document contains six chapters that examine the role of teacher leadership in the school-restructuring process. Chapter 1, "When--Teachers Lead" (Bruce S. Cooper), provides a general introduction to the content and purpose of the monograph. Chapter 2, "When--Teachers Share School-Level Decision-Making" (Sharon Conley and Justo Robles),…

This booklet contains four selected conference papers on educational reform and restructuring. In "Can Rational Organization Models Really Reform Anything? A Case Study of Reform in Chicago," Fenwick English describes reform efforts in the Chicago Public Schools and examines the political, social, organizational, and bureaucratic factors that have…

Change theories provide administrators with helpful insight into the "whys" and "hows" of successful magnet program initiation and implementation. Educational change involves two determining factors: direction (movement) and rate (speed). The actual process of change can be divided into phases of adoption, implementation, and incorporation.…

The current "third-wave" educational reformers are committed to deeper and more far-reaching school improvement efforts that have been conceived almost totally in structuralist terms. The word "restructuring" often appears in such reforms to signal reformers' intent to institute "systemic" reform. The latter term…

Drawing on extensive staff interviews, this publication profiles a high school principal in Eugene, Oregon, who exhibits many aspects of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is improvement oriented and comprises three elements: (1) a collaborative, shared decision-making approach; (2) an emphasis on teacher professionalism and…

This document analyzes six school-reform models for at-risk youth. Part 1 examines three curriculum-based reform programs that explicitly target curriculum and instruction: Reading Recovery; Success for All; and the Academy model. These programs focus on changes in student achievement and work within the structure of existing schools. Part 2…

This paper examines the change process that occurred in four elementary schools that implemented a participatory mode of school organization, the Accelerated Schools model. Methodology included document analysis and a total of 35 interviews with teachers, administrators, social workers, and parents. Findings indicate that: (1) the principal's…

As businesses are remodeling their workplaces into "high-performance work organizations," states must reorganize their education systems to accommodate the changing world of work and to produce citizens able to compete in the global economy. This paper is the first in a series of reports by the Investing in People (IIP) Project, which is…

In the Australian state of Victoria, virtually all decisions about spending, curriculum, and personnel are made at the school level. Victoria's experience in developing a system of school-based management (SBM) and shared decision making offers a perspective on school reform efforts in the United States. Underlying the school restructuring trends…

The relationship between the political context of school districts and their choices of decentralization policy is explored in this paper. It was expected that district politics would affect decentralization policies in two ways: the form of decentralization adopted and the degree of change. The decision to decentralize in three large urban school…

Western society sees art as beautiful, well crafted objects; and art education derives almost its entire theory and practice from this concept. However, this is only one function of the creative process and art educators need to reconsider the fullness and depth of the usage of that process and provide an alternative mission and practice of art…

Publications summarized in this annotated bibliography address critical issues on the restructuring of school governance and organization, curriculum reform, and the professionalization of teachers. Included are articles on specific schools and school districts that have made significant progress in their efforts to improve student achievement…