Discusses France's 1989 New Policy for Education (NPE), which identifies three ways of preventing academic failure: school policies stressing family involvement and instructional continuity; reorganization of primary education into three training cycles; and assessment of student competencies. Considers NPE's position on knowledge development.…

Project SHAPE is a two-year intervention and enrichment program for underachieving and educationally disadvantaged ninth and tenth grade students in Toledo, Ohio. Operating through teacher empowerment; curriculum development; structural organization; and student, parent, and community involvement, SHAPE's goals are developing an academically…

To revitalize schools, educators must break away from old habits and learn to think within a paradigm that is more optimistic about human potential. Without a new guiding vision, restructuring will not succeed. Educational restructuring is a fundamental change of assumptions about what schools are, how they are organized, and how they operate. (20…

Shares insights gained when the author, a professor of teacher education, taught middle and high school for a half-year in the public schools. Discusses the school setting and the classroom experience, and offers observations on whether students have changed, the school curriculum, and school organization and procedures. (SR)

Describes three newly formed charter schools, noting how widely they differ in setting, purpose, and character. Notes six lessons that might be applicable to charter schools in other communities. (SR)

Examines current micropolitics literature in the context of educational reform leadership. Discusses implications of disassociated research and policymaking for systemic change, particularly when macro directions meet micro realities. Conceptual pluralism in organizational research has enriched and limited our micropolitical understanding. School…

How much do noninstructional minutes in a school day cost? Principals can figure out how many "mission minutes" it takes to hold an assembly or other activity, what it costs, and whether it is worth it. For instance, using clerical labor for registration is cheaper than having students do it. (MLH)

To prepare their students for successful futures, teachers must be willing to learn continuously, expand their own abilities, and assume ever greater leadership roles. Principals must create an environment that supports teacher collaboration, facilitates professional development, and recognizes the concept of teacher leadership. (MLH)

Questions whether and how instruction and schooling play a role in the problematization of the sciences and in the limitation and assessment of the implications of a universalized scientific rationality. Sketches the contours of an organization of schooling not characterized by a technical pattern. (CMK)

A study used survey data from an achieved sample of 1,818 elementary teachers and 6,490 students in a large Canadian school district to explore teacher and principal leadership influences on student engagement with school. Principal-leadership effects were weak but significant; teacher-leadership effects proved insignificant. (Contains 59…

This paper presents a case study of departmental reorganization. Using journals kept by five faculty members, the study traces the difficulties of establishing an organizational identity for and faculty identification with the new unit. The analysis suggests that reorganizations may not produce anticipated advantages. Many of the new department's…

The purpose of this article is to summarize what is generally known about talent development and schooling by stating some propositions about the way such programs are structured. This article sets the stage for a series of stories of programs that attempt to address the challenge of talent development in diverse low-income populations. The…

Educational opportunity in the United States and Mexico is an important factor in the process of expanding social and economic opportunities, as well as political and civil rights in both countries. Yet, by national and international indicators, many Mexican American and Mexican children are underserved by public schools in both countries; and…

Higher education--and continuing education as one arm of that enterprise--is not just an economic engine; it contributes directly and in a multifaceted fashion to the common good. It generates and makes accessible a great deal of the knowledge that drives the economy; it helps develop an understanding of the society and the world for millions of…

This book provides guidelines for leaders who seek fundamental and lasting school restructuring. Following the introduction, chapter 2 presents an explanation of the core concepts of school restructuring and explains the significance of those disabling habits of mind and practice that dominate most traditionally organized high schools and inhibit…