This article describes Colorado's approach to implementation of least restrictive environment (LRE) policy, specifically focused on the recent reform initiative of inclusive education. It describes how state leadership and collaboration have resulted in increased integrated placements. Emerging policy initiatives and questions about the merger of…

This paper introduces this journal issue on the Network for Innovative Colleges of Education, which was originally created to allow five deans to meet periodically to support one another but which quickly grew to support other key faculty. The colleagues all contributed to restructuring each of the five colleges. (SM)

Examines the process undertaken by the authors, both learning center administrators, when faced with the campus-wide process of restructuring. Explains their systematic examination of services offered by the learning center, the data gathered, and the changes made. Presents a model of a learning center that effectively meets the needs of a rapidly…

In the current context of standards-based reform and heightened accountability for school performance, state education agencies (SEAs) have an important, but not yet well-articulated, role to play in local school improvement efforts. This article starts to articulate such a role by examining the variety of approaches and strategies used by 7 SEAs…

The author recently had the same conversation about local school reform with two superintendents--one from a large, urban district in the East and the other from a small district in the Midwest. Both superintendents were working with their respective boards to approve, design and fund reading initiatives consistent with the new federal guidelines.…

In the 1980s, a Republican president led a defense build-up in response to foreign crises, and his education secretary, chided the establishment on school reform. Legal experts debated the merits of affirmative action, while advocates questioned the growing reliance of students on loans instead of grants to finance a college education. Sound…

In this article, the author discusses multiage education. Multiage education hailed as recently as 10 years ago as a promising way to restructure schools and boost student achievement but now has fallen on hard times. Interest in the issue has waned, with new research on the topic virtually nonexistent and attendance at national multiage…

Current theory and research in the area of motivation indicate that while frequent academic failures are clearly undesirable, temporary failure in challenging academic tasks can have important psychological benefits when followed by successful coping. However, teachers' responses during our school reform programme suggest that some special…

Utah state Representative Margaret Dayton adored President Bush. Her conservative politics lined up with his. One of her favorite memories was being at an intimate gathering and hearing the president echo her top priorities, God, family, and country. However, Dayton had drove one of Bush's biggest education-relation headaches. Dayton led a…

Over the past decade, numerous shifts in education policy have been proposed and implemented in the attempt to improve educational opportunities for the diverse American population. Some of these changes have been initiated by the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) via its mix of standards, accountability, and punitive…

In this article, the author discusses the pedagogical negligence on civic education after 9/11 due to the No Child Left Behind Policy resulting in several counterproductive restructuring of curricula, which include the creation of a core ninth-grade course in civics, integrated service learning across the curriculum, and the restructuring of…

Over the past 20 years, teachers have been under continuous pressure to increase students' academic achievement gains. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the latest effort in the 20+-year-old school reform movement, is a federal mandate that demands in part that school districts implement science-based instructional strategies to ensure…

This article presents a longitudinal case study of an urban district school-university partnership designed to prepare students for health careers. We not only summarize the accomplishments of this partnership but also identify factors in the partnership dynamics that hindered the expected improvement in student outcomes. By suggesting possible…

The Czech Republic, England, France, Germany and Sweden differ culturally and economically, but they commonly exhibit general trends of decentralisation in the control of educational processes and outcomes. The present contribution looks at these five European countries as the venue for case studies in educational restructuring as well as…

Parents comprise a key stakeholder group of public education that can exert significant influence over school policy, budget, and instructional decisions. Restricting this group's participation in school reform jeopardizes the success of any innovation, no matter how promising. This may be occurring with block scheduling. This research describes…