This book presents findings of the second phase of a study conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Specifically, the study sought to identify the educational programs and leadership practices that were used in successfully restructuring middle schools. Of 46 principals at middle schools that met the NASSP's…

Aimed primarily at practitioners, this book's main objectives are to illuminate significant educational administration issues, sensitize readers to rapid and inevitable changes in the field, guide well-informed administrative action, review emerging developments, and demonstrate the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration's leadership…

Findings of a study that evaluated the Spencerport, New York, "More Effective Schools/Teaching Project" and examined the project's validation process are presented in this paper. The program model was based on change at the individual school level, administrator/staff collegiality, comprehensive interventions based on school culture, and…

Findings from a study that examined the relationship between external environmental factors and effective school conditions are presented in this paper. A focus is on the ways in which the different "educational worlds" of urban, suburban, and rural high schools shape internal school processes. Methodology involved an analysis of the relationship…

This paper reports the findings of a case study that examined leadership as a shared phenomenon. Conducted during the 1991-92 school year at Cross Keys Middle School in Ferguson, Missouri, data were derived from informal interviews with staff members; observation; formal interviews with 19 teachers, 3 counselors, 3 administrators; and document…

This paper uses data drawn from two projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council of England and Wales. It covers the years 1990-94 and examines the effects of the Education Reform Act, which allowed state schools to "opt out" or leave the control of their Local Education Authority (LEA) and still receive funding. Such…

This report presents the manner in which a systemic approach of combining standards, assessment, and accountability into a unified set of laws and regulations has been coming onto the state scene for the past 2 decades. A complete performance-based education accountability system includes four components: standards and assessment, multiple…

Some of the issues surrounding school productivity are discussed in this ERIC digest. It presents the results of early research that explored whether there is a relationship between educational funding and student outcomes. Some of the reasons behind schools' productivity problems are presented, including problems with unstable governance and the…

This report was designed to help policy makers and concerned citizens understand the context, culture, and history that set the stage for Oregon's efforts to reform state government, including those areas of government that affect education. This text offers a "snapshot" of what Oregon is doing to improve results, such as setting…

The rapid expansion of charter schools would suggest that there is evidence of their effectiveness, but this is not the case. The lack of objective evidence of their success reinforces the claim that charter school reforms are political and ideological rather than educational reforms. The arguments in favor of charter schools have exploited some…

This report discusses the results of a survey administered in fall 1998 by the Office of Institutional Research at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Kansas. The survey, distributed every five years as part of an overall environmental scan, aims to assess residents' perceptions and opinions of the college. A sample of 1,005 Johnson County…

The 1980s were an exceptional period for state educational reform activity. The decade was notable for the breadth and persistence of the movement for educational reform centered at the state and local levels. To learn more about state reform activity, the consortium launched a study to examine policy making and practice in six states (Arizona,…

This paper examines the contributions of the two dominant theories of school improvement--effective schools and school restructuring--to education. The first section reviews effective schools theory; the second section reviews the school restructuring literature, with attention to its extension of tenets of the effective schools paradigm. Each…

In 1987, the State of Maine encouraged schools to make fundamental organizational changes necessary to ensure that all children are successful in school. This booklet reports on the progress of 10 Maine schools that are wrestling with fundamental questions about the purpose, content, and organization of schooling. Each school is profiled with a…

This study identified common characteristics in six "good" secondary schools in the rural Appalachian regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. Three schools from each state were selected for study based on nominations by Chief State School Officers and local superintendents and ratings based on statistical information about the schools. Two…