The primary goal of the School Improvement Project (SIP), administered by the central office of New York City (New York) Public Schools, is to improve academic achievement through school-based planning. A planning committee representing the various school constituencies is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to effect…

Most of the middle schools in Belgium are 2-year schools that form a link between the 6 years of elementary education and the last 4 years of secondary education. In Flanders they are regarded as an example of the more global reform of the secondary educational system in a comprehensive sense. First, this document outlines the new system of…

To examine the relationships between the external environment in which a high school exists and the internal structure of the school, a study compared selected resource variables in Connecticut communities and the internal organizational characteristics of the 25 high schools in those communities. The literature suggests external environmental…

A study of the effect of implementing educational innovations in local schools across the country explored several factors affecting successful improvement. This paper provides a general overview of the interrelation among these factors, with illustrative diagrams. Particular attention is paid to innovations requiring major changes in teacher…

The conditions that intensify conflict avoidance by the central administration in making strategic decisions, and the consequences of such avoidance for the management of college affairs, are discussed. The implication of an emerging decision-making style for adapting the organization to changing environments is also considered. Some of the…

Restructuring the American education system has become perhaps the leading popular proposal for remedying what has been identified as the sorry state of the nation's schools. This term suggests a thorough, even radical, overhaul and redirection of the entire system. But the intent of these proposed strategies is the restructuring--not the…

Proposals for the adoption of programs to improve the quality of education frequently emphasize the importance of concentrating on the individual school building as the center of the change process. This emphasis has led to increasing support for moving the locus of decision making downward to bring about what is called "school based…

Formal structures of higher education that evolved in Islamic culture are discussed, along with parallels to the rise of universities in Medieval Europe. Both Islamic communities and Western Christianity founded colleges through endowments. The structural form of higher education in Islamic education in Islamic regions developed from the efforts…

Descriptive findings concerning organization and management practices in 16 urban high schools across the United States are reported in this paper. The findings are based on data from the as yet incomplete 3-year District/Secondary School Study. This research effort involved urban comprehensive high schools without special admissions requirements…

The government of the Netherlands is currently rethinking national educational policy on a broad basis, according to this report. In addition to preparing the way for a substantial restructuring of the educational system, from the pre-primary to adult education levels, this national policy overhaul has raised major issues regarding the purposes of…

Using examples of school change, this document discusses both Swedish experiences with local educational development and theories of schools and change. An introduction gives background information on Sweden's schools and its parlimentary activities on education. Section 2 reviews the history of local educational development, especially…

Using the ERIC system, a library search of textbooks, publications from school administrator associations, and the recommendations of educators and researchers, the authors survey the literature from 1970 through 1981 on the principalship, especially on educational leadership and administrative practices. They identify two types of…

Issues concerning higher education in the United States are considered, with attention to historical developments; functions and objectives; types of institutions and degrees; internal and external organization; finance; admissions, access, and financial assistance; student and faculty characteristics; distance and recurrent education;…

This paper examines three areas of alternative education: (1) In what ways, and for whom, are alternative schools alternative? (2) What appear to be the unanticipated consequences of the creation of alternative schools? (3) Can the creation of alternative schols be considered a change strategy? The authors compare the ideals of alternative…

Two major studies reported in 1970 reached similar conclusions regarding the effect of team teaching in elementary schools on collegial decision making, faculty communication, and teacher sentiments. Among other things, teachers in team-organized schools were found to have higher levels of work autonomy and job satisfaction than those in…