There is a need for a better understanding of how to build empowering environments and schools, based on empirical findings rather than rhetoric or opinion. This book uses 2 large national studies conducted over 6 years in 26 schools, as well as other research. It will be useful to students in leadership training classes and to practitioners…

The caring ethic is explored as an educational reform effort in the context of other reform efforts that have proven to be fads that quickly fade from consciousness. Advocates of the caring ethic are in danger of pushing it toward faddishness. Ways to avoid this outcome are suggested. (SLD)

The theory that strong external accountability improves school performance fails to recognize the importance of internal accountability and insufficient efforts to develop organizational capacity. A study of 24 restructuring schools found that schools with strong external accountability tended to have low capacity; strong internal accountability…

A major organizational change is necessary to promote more equitable and effective instructional grouping schemes in schools. A palatable restructuring alternative that combines effective grouping with the flexibility to meet each school's needs is parallel block scheduling. This system capitalizes on teachers' strengths, promotes greater mixing…

The authors assert that the present educational system is not responding to the demands of the environment, but schools may be performing at their capacity and unable to improve further. They propose system redesign and implementation as part of an alternative frame of reference regarding reform. (Author)

Continuing use of outdated design is the main source of the crisis in education. The existing system should be "trans-formed" rather than "re-formed." Transformation requires the development of organizational capacity and collective capability to engage in systems design with a broad vision of what should be. (Author/JOW)

Addresses the need for restructuring schools in ways that encourage educational reform, the integration of school and community, and the building of covenants for the eradication of ignorance and hierarchy, which are barriers to systemic change. (SK)

A school system cannot restructure or transform itself without trust. The process demands a shared belief system--belief in the leadership, the integrity of all participants, the vision they develop, and agreed-upon goals. An essential part of earning trust is communicating with the community. (MLH)

Highlights the initial restructuring efforts begun by a Pennsylvania high school participating in the Coalition of Essential Schools. After several years of discussion, the staff undertook summer inservice training featuring a reading project, an ideal/reality exercise, a shadowing project, and a school visitation process. Choosing an…

An elementary principal describes the physically exhausting, but professionally fulfilling process of opening a new school in Valparaiso, Indiana. High points included hiring faculty and staff, organizing volunteer parents, videotaping opening day, selling sweatshirts, taking an all-school picture, holding a school dedication ceremony, and burying…

Analysis of school improvement projects in Britain and elsewhere identified successful practices: vision, extended view of leadership, program-context match, multilevel approaches, and focus on student outcomes. Projects failed when contextual factors were ignored, schools were treated the same, or single-level perspectives were adopted.…

Methodological and practical challenges present formidable barriers to conducting empirical evaluations of school reform initiatives. Systematic information about school reform and improvement, and its relationship to special education, is even more difficult to obtain. In this study, the authors developed a reliable and valid method to (a)…

There is little consensus regarding which articles have shaped the field of special education and are therefore classics. To begin to address this issue, this article uses an objective, databased procedure to identify the 50 most frequently cited articles in general special education journals (i.e., Exceptional Children, Remedial and Special…

Beliefs underlying underlying education reform movements are reviewed in the context of three common principles of need: option, probability, and possibility. The causes of problem behavior, the idea that schools will improve when students' individual needs are met, and pressures from the community are explored. The reality is that student needs…

The strategies to be followed by a Library Media Specialist when his or her position is reduced due to budget reductions or reorganizations in the school district are discussed. The strategies include, learning the timeline for district budget adjustment project, distribution and discussion of library advocacy information with building…