The decade 1980-90 saw a spate of educational reconstruction occurring simultaneously in many countries. This book argues that the school restructuring of the past 10 years has been called the "education-reform movement," but that term is somewhat misleading. The current reform efforts seem to aim primarily at the control and governance of both…

Prospective and experienced educators are invited to envision new schools for the emerging information age by this book, which rests on the belief that information technologies will generate new ways for people to make sense of their lives. It is argued that the narrative that made sense of industrial progress has been broken, and that it is no…

In education, the term restructuring is as notable for its ambiguity as for its meaning. This book draws from more than 600 sources across a wide spectrum of perspectives regarding restructuring. It provides a picture of many of the trends and issues in school restructuring and attempts to place these issues into a context that helps explain where…

The Chicago (Illinois) Board of Education has been engaged in a process of system-wide reorganization that may shift the locus of decision-making authority for many administrative functions from the Central Office to individual schools. Proponents of decentralization contend that restructuring will reduce costs and increase efficiencies at the…

Many educational reforms that have focused on fragmentary improvement and remedial treatment did not lead to long-term effectiveness. This paper examines a new direction for educational reforms in Hong Kong and other international contexts. The new direction should include the following 10 tendencies: (1) toward multiple school functions from…

Contributors to this collection raise questions about the wisdom of the Goals 2000 approach to educational improvement. They present new looks at improving America's schools and creating an educational model based on care, concern, and connection. Chapters include: (1) "Introduction: Setting Sail on a Very Long Voyage" (Evans Clinchy);…

The American public education system seems to be resistant to curative measures. This book is a journalistic account of Cleveland Heights High School's unsuccessful struggle to achieve excellence and equity. The high school, located in a middle-class suburb of Cleveland, implemented the Model School Project in 1988 to address the persistent…

Included in calls for change during the school reform of the 1980s were demands that teachers be given more control over education in the classroom. Such calls have led to the propagation of changes in the schools that allow teachers to take the lead in education, with school management being left to administrators. These changes create legal…

Shared decision making (SDM) as an element of educational reform promises enhanced quality outcomes and appeals to educators who see virtue in the idea of people coming together to plan what is best for themselves and their students. Analyses have shown, however, that school councils implementing SDM rarely tackle operational classroom decisions…

This publication examines some of the skills that informed observers see as most critical for principals who seek to be effective leaders in restructuring schools. It also highlights some principal-preparation programs, both preservice programs at colleges and universities and inservice programs for practicing principals. The document examines…

The Oregon Report Card is an annual portrait of the state's public schools. The first five sections describe statewide progress toward implementing Oregon's Educational Act for the 21st Century, some of the state's exemplary school-improvement programs, and the clear relationship between Oregon's program and national education goals. The remaining…

This paper utilizes the concepts of power and change as a framework for describing and analyzing efforts made by an individual teacher to change instructional-grouping and teacher-assignment practices in one Georgia school system. Data were collected through interviews with the individual teacher, administrators, educators, and federal and state…

The history of reform movements in education has culminated in the current work of Theodore Sizer and John Goodlad. This paper discusses and describes the application of Sizer's and Goodlad's research to educational administration programs at the university level. The commonalities between each researcher's perspective, as applied to school…

A conceptual model is developed that presents leadership as process and participation by followers in urban schools in which decentralization efforts are underway. The model advances the work of urban school administrators as they deal with constituencies from diverse perspectives and predilections. Applications of the model involve behaviors that…

This paper explores the degree to which the public education funds in selected districts have become players at the policy table and examines the factors that permit funds to have a credible voice in the turbulent political world of urban districts without seriously jeopardizing their working "inside" relationships with these systems. The analysis…