For the purpose of reflective analysis, this article, which employs narrative inquiry as a research methodology, combines two "crossing the boundaries" dilemmas I experienced over the course of a decade. While the dilemmas relate to different issues that emerged in my career (standardized testing as a K-12 teacher and the formal…

If school renewal is to ultimately impact student outcomes, then understanding and responding to the factors students describe as influencing their constructive and unconstructive effort is vital. Results from focus groups with 4th, 7th, 9th, and 11th graders indicated that when students set and work toward goals, they expend more effort in…

This paper describes an instance of a disadvantaged (urban) Australian government school that realized it had little alternative but to try new approaches; "old ways" were not working. The paper describes an ensemble of school reform practices, philosophies and strategies that give young adolescents genuine ownership of their learning.…

America's urban high schools are having trouble making sophomores, resulting in freshmen classes bulging with students repeating a grade. Research shows that these students are at high risk of failure and dropout. Urban districts have begun to respond to the notable "freshmen bulge" through school restructuring. This mixed-methods study…

Over the last 10 to 15 years, a variety of efforts to transform American high schools have gained both public and private support. Significant among these are initiatives to implement Small Learning Communities (SLCs), part of a larger school reform and restructuring effort designed to address a variety of goals, including "downsizing large…

The Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Program was established as a demonstration program in 1998 and authorized as a full program in 2002 as part of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). It is one approach to help low-performing K-12 public schools meet state performance standards. CSR emphasizes two major concepts: mandating that school reform…

Background/Context: This is the first research study to examine the content basis of Payne's in-service teacher education program, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, though others who have reviewed the book have agreed with our analysis. The study took place within a policy context in which the federal government, with the passage of the No…

The State of Florida Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for the present report to produce data sets for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating students in 2009 and 2010. Summary data for the district are also provided.…

This book presents essays written by school reformers that discuss the reform movement and examine the partnership that inspired the creation of small, intimate school communities known as charters. They also reflect on the comprehensive changes that inform each charter and the personal and collective struggles to institutionalize these new…

For two and one-half days in November 1990, members of the Lehigh University School Study Council met in retreat to explore the idea of restructuring and to reflect on its relevance for their schools. Participants included superintendents, principals, teachers, and faculty from institutions of higher education. This resource guide was developed by…

This second volume of selected readings is designed to accompany Video Conferences 5-9 in the series "Restructuring to Promote Learning in America's Schools." The readings in this volume explore several key issues in school restructuring. Four sections include: (1) Schools as Learning Communities; (2) Many Roads to Fundamental Reform:…

Reassessment of the role of the superintendent largely has been excluded from the educational reform movement of the 1980s. This paper contends that superintendents must utilize a new "leaderly" model of active instructional leadership in superintending to improve the education of students. The paper is a tool for those working to…

School reform efforts to date have not always resulted in meaningful change. This book presents findings from an ethnographic study that examined the change process in three schools undertaking systemic reform. The schools included the Hull Junior-Senior High School, a primarily white public school in a recession-battered community; the Academy at…

Although educational reform has generated much excitement and has been associated with many positive classroom changes, policymakers and educators also face a number of challenges in designing and implementing the new policies. This publication examines these challenges and the strategies that states are using to address them. It draws from the…

This paper describes early outcomes of a Sacramento, California, elementary school that participated in the Accelerated Schools Project. The school, which serves many minority and poor students, began training for the project in 1992. Accelerated Schools were designed to advance the learning rate of students through a gifted and talented approach,…