In this book, eight contributors examine issues related to the likely effects of the decentralization of school governance on educational practice. Two major themes emerge in the book. The first (chapters 1 through 4) is that governance reforms in education may have little to do with what actually happens in schools, but have much to do with…

In creating the Texas Task Force on High School Education, the State Board of Education directed the task force to review the status of public high school education in Texas and develop a policy to prepare the state's high schools for the 21st century. This report is the task force's response to that charge. The first section analyzes the need for…

This paper examines the implications of the organizational-learning concept for policy and practice in school restructuring. The organizational-learning framework emphasizes the individual and collective cognitive and behavioral transformations that occur as part of the emergence of new organizational patterns. Various models for organizational…

To date, only two states (Minnesota and California) have passed charter-school legislation. This report presents details from these two states regarding charter-school formation, including roles played by teachers and organizers, by local school boards as sponsors, and by county or state officials in providing an appeals process and technical…

This handbook provides information on how to use comprehensive schoolwide models to improve learning for more students. It paves the way for creating programs under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that are grounded in the lessons of successful Chapter 1 schoolwide programs. Following the executive summary and…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the change process involved when four elementary schools implemented the accelerated schools model. Specifically, the study focused on transitions in parental roles that occurred when the schools changed from a conventional mode of organization to a participatory mode. The case study data were…

This policy brief presents updated information on charter schools, particularly on developments in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) region. Contents include a letter from Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School students and interviews with two parents from the Toivola-Meadowlands, Minnesota, Charter Schools. The parents report…

Focus groups are planned each year to gather regional needs assessment information on school restructuring as part of the Research for Better Schools (RBS) planning process. In spring 1991, RBS staff gathered rich, contextual data from five focus group discussions held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Newark, New Jersey; the District of Columbia;…

Findings from a study that examined the school-level factors related to the success of early efforts to restructure schools through school-based management are presented in this paper. Specifically, the study examined the antecedent factors expected to affect the probability of a school moving forward toward more extensive decentralization. An…

This paper describes the strategies used by the Research Department chief of the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Schools to restructure a department beset with staff cuts, district reorganization, and a demoralized staff. The reform movement for accountability is challenging school district research departments to provide timely, meaningful, objective…

The effects of state policy on school restructuring efforts are examined in this report. Three main sections present a review of restructuring concepts, a process to determine state policy effects on school restructuring, and application of this process to applied learning in six states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and…

The concept of power, fundamental to understanding human interactions and institutions, remains puzzling, elusive, theoretically complex, and largely unexamined by practitioners. A school restructuring agenda that purportedly changes power relationships in schools is being proposed and tested throughout the country. Basic questions are being asked…

Research on school-based management approaches to educational reform, including effective schools research, is presented. Included are an introductory section on school-based improvement and its link to effective schools, by Anne T. Henderson; descriptive summaries of 53 references; a list of organizations to contact for further information; and a…

Recommendations are made for a system of incentives at the state and local levels to ensure that highly capable people are attracted to and retained in the teaching profession. These recommendations include ways in which teachers can be empowered through expanding to new and more professional roles. An introduction to this report outlines issues…

Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave his first hint about his plans for reforming the New York City school system on Martin Luther King Day in January 2003. Mayor Bloomberg did not offer a single excuse for the disastrous state of the city's schools. Nor did he attribute that failure to poverty or racism. Breaking with 50 years of liberal political…