School psychologists who are savvy about state and federal policies benefit in that they have enhanced their potential to participate in school reform and are better able to facilitate the inclusion of special-needs students in their programs. Presents an overview of state and federal reform legislation, organization, and activities, and ties…

An Ohio urban secondary school used two innovations to promote renewal of school culture and structure. Teacher-student teaming grouped 4 core subject teachers with 80 students until graduation. School-to-work combined career exploration, job shadowing, internships, and academics. (SK)

Summarizes a report published by the NASSP Study of the Restructuring of the American High School. Outlines nine educational goals and recommendations on renewal priorities for curriculum, instructional strategies, school environment, technology, organization and time, assessment and accountability, professional development, diversity, governance,…

Outlines critical elements of restructuring: three focal properties (curriculum standards, performance assessment, interdisciplinary teaching) and four facilitating properties (block schedules, technology, self-directed teacher teams, and parental involvement). (SK)

Examines what shapes current practices in secondary-level social-studies classrooms in New York City, especially in those institutions characterized as "restructured." An important influence on social-studies curriculum and teaching has to do with the differences between traditional and restructured secondary schools. Study seeks answers…

Describes the evolution of the Manitoba School Improvement Program's approach to evaluation as a way to build school improvement capacity. Explores what has been learned about how to move schools into an empowerment model of evaluation and considers the benefits of empowerment evaluation to educational reform. (SLD)

This article describes a comparative framework for identifying, analyzing, and practicing acts of leadership. The triadic framework identifies transactional, transformational, and critical domains of leadership, and argues that teachers, heretofore ignored or neglected in discussions of school management, are pivotal leaders in school reform…

With the arrival of the 21st century, a serious reappraisal of the school reforms from the previous century emerged. For the most part, these reappraisals reflected skepticism about many of the reforms that were characteristic of the "progressive era," and, here and there, pessimism about the extent to which fundamental change can be…

When California set out nearly 10 years ago to reduce class sizes in the early grades, educators nationwide looked West with awe and envy at the ambitious move to ease the task of teaching millions of the state's youngest students. In this article, the author examines the effects of California's class-size reduction program. State Superintendent…

The "Reform of the System of Education" Project got started in 2002 in Samara Oblast and the Republic of Chuvashia. Recently the Iurii Levada Analysis Center, at the request of the National Foundation for Cadre Training, prepared a study of the social consequences of the restructuring of general education institutions in these regions.…

The current emphasis on school reform makes many demands on principals. The case study in this article describes the experiences of one urban junior high school principal who was part of a five-year federal grant that targets schools with at-risk youth. Themes that emerged from this qualitative study include school culture, educator and student…

The notion of "student voice," or a student role in the decision making and change efforts of schools, has emerged in the new millennium as a potential strategy for improving the success of school reform efforts. Yet few studies have examined this construct either theoretically or empirically. Grounded in a sociocultural perspective, this article…

This article integrates the technical model of policy implementation with a co-constructed perspective of implementation to understand the impact of the New Jersey Department of Education's (NJDOE) actions and policies on implementation of a set of court-ordered mandates in 30 of the state's poorest school districts (referred to as the Abbott or…

For more than a decade, the economic, social, political and cultural effects of globalisation have been central topics of debate. Those who see globalisation as a combination of economic transactions and worldwide telecommunications tend to believe that its impact is profound, inasmuch as it is fundamentally altering the way in which we live and…

Teacher leadership represents a powerful approach to assert the true professionalism that educators have long been seeking. Opportunities abound for teachers to contribute to school reform by demonstrating their leadership skills. This article considers strategies to rebuild the portrait of teachers and thereby encourage strong professional…