Federal, state, and local policy issues that affect models of school-linked integrated services and systems are examined. Barriers to school-linked service integration, state policy trends, the realities of finance, establishing state systems of support for the changing approach, examples of state approaches, and the impact of devolution are…

Highlights selected recent ERIC documents that discuss aspects of program and school effectiveness in middle level education. Provides citations on eight books and five journal articles with abstracts and ordering information. (AA)

Discusses the need for reform at the middle school educational level. Suggests that middle schools should create an environment that reflects and responds to young adolescents' needs and developmental level. Effective middle school teachers must adopt new modes of teaching as they face the challenges and opportunities presented by changing…

Discusses four principles that can help middle school environments overcome common behavior problems and become places where young adolescents develop responsibility for their learning: (1) foster natural human development; (2) respond to individual needs; (3) avoid artificially imposed classroom order and promote self organization; and (4) value…

Discusses the educational restructuring movement in Australia and places it in the context of past educational reforms. Educational restructuring is defined as a national curriculum framework with a common set of national goals and a curriculum streamlined into eight key learning areas. The arts is one of those areas. (MJP)

Schools in East Oakland (California) serving minority groups experienced overcrowding, poor attendance and graduation rates, and violence. Community groups pressured the school district into opening six new, small charter schools and creating schools within schools at the high schools. Cooperation among community groups, the district, and the Bay…

School finance is the focus of battles for equity in funding. Issues in equitable finance that focus on the impact on Latinos are discussed. Some reform strategies are considered. As long as funding inequities can be related to achievement gaps, per-pupil expenditures will remain an important focus of discussion. (SLD)

A Milwaukee (Wisconsin) program to improve its public school education with the help of faculty from three universities (University of Wisconsin, Marquette University, and Milwaukee School of Engineering) is described. The program, EQUITY 2000, aims to bring systemic change to entire school districts by eliminating tracking and raising standards…

Highlights patterns in the progression from local to state and federal control, from program improvement to accountability, from evaluation of process to outcome and back, and from simple to complex models. Also examines the trend toward developing a system that includes all students instead of just those in special education. (RJM)

Discusses the role of related services personnel in system reform. Argues that the skills of related services staff will serve them well in the educational reform movement. Describes ways in which roles can be expanded and skills modified to meet the needs of schools and students undergoing reforms. (RJM)

Examines reactions of three types of stakeholder groups (administrators/policymakers, early interventionists/teachers, and parents) to the National Center on Educational Outcomes' early childhood outcomes models. Group members represented either a general early childhood perspective or an early childhood special education perspective. Presents…

Examines the implications of Goals 2000, opportunity-to-learn standards, assessment accommodations, and accountability for identifying and promoting educational outcomes for students with disabilities. Discusses outcome-based education and outcome-based assessment and presents some consequences of the most current reform efforts for special and…

Describes "essential" classrooms, where students concentrate on essential subjects and learn to think for themselves, at Fairdale High School in Louisville (Kentucky). The accompanying interview with T. R. Sizer outlines this new direction in education. The most credible agent for change is a comparable school already involved. (SLD)

Explores the role of experience in educational change in a roundtable discussion with S. Nicolau, D. Davies, and D. Moore. A common thread is the vision of the school as a center of community life and a community of learners that includes students, parents, and teachers. (SLD)

Presents the views of a concerned citizen on reshaping U.S. schools in a peaceful, grass-roots revolution. Emphasis is on the neighborhood school, with parent participation, and a system that keeps students with the same teacher for multiple years. The human and technological resources that the approach requires are discussed. (SLD)