This case study of the effects of school restructuring on at-risk students focused on the grade 11 Humanitas Program at seven Los Angeles schools. Humanitas was initiated to improve the humanities education of average students in urban schools with a large minority population. The following measures were used to compare Humanitas students with…

To discover how school restructuring affects teachers' work and teacher engagement, a study was conducted on eight schools that have been experimenting with alternative structures, programs, and activities for 7 to 10 years, The data presented were collected in two of the schools through observations of 15 classes and interviews with teachers,…

An account of the first year of Chicago's school reform effort as experienced in a predominantly Hispanic school is presented. The ethnicity of actors in each level of the restructuring effort is examined to develop an organizing framework to explain how interaction between these "layers" influences policy making and program…

The differences and similarities between education and the private sector are analyzed as they both engage in efforts to fundamentally restructure their operations. To bridge the cultural gap between business and education, a workable strategy that advances direct and sustained private-sector involvement in education reform is proposed. Part 1 of…

The growing proclivity of business leaders in some urban communities to become more deeply involved in the complex and politically volatile issue of school governance is assessed in this paper. The troubles facing Detroit public schools include a high dropout rate, illiteracy of graduates, and bad management of money and resources. In 1988,…

Georgia's business leadership is concerned about that state's public education system which has consistently ranked near the bottom of the educational ladder. In 1986, the Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act became law, and its provisions are described in this document. The Georgia Alliance for Public Education (the Alliance) was mobilized to…

In South Carolina, reform through the Educational Improvement Act (1984) and business-education partnerships are paying dividends in school improvements and gains in student performance. One key factor is the continued involvement of business leaders and business organizations in monitoring and supporting full implementation of reforms. Four…

This paper, written from the perspective of the child advocacy community, acknowledges the importance of the business community in the political process. The paper profiles the contrast between two New Jerseys, one of prosperity, the other struggling under excruciating poverty. The economic boom of the 1980s broadened the gap between wealthy…

An overview of recent literature and some new models formulated by the Comprehensive Teacher Education Institutes and others regarding the development of school-university partnerships is provided in this paper. Following a general introduction, a brief account of the origins, development, and definitions of school-university partnerships is…

Aimed at central office administrators, school board members, staff developers, and state-level policy makers, this document is about restructuring the educational system and the two most prevalent restructuring strategies--school-based management and shared decision making. The document attempts to create awareness of the current system's…

Changes in shared decision making as a result of the implementation of school-based management in the Dade County public school system are described in this report. Background information on the school system and its restructuring plan, implemented during the 1987-88 school year, is presented, followed by a discussion of changes in participative…

Three broad themes run throughout restructuring reforms: decentralization, collaboration, and accountability. The California Legislature recently established a statewide school restructuring demonstration program to help determine whether California educators can make restructuring work. This analysis examines the concept of school restructuring,…

Many of the first-wave reform initiatives of the 1980s have been successfully implemented on a widespread basis and are having an important influence on the schooling process. The reform movement was expected to fail because of strong financial, political, and organizational arguments. Reform initiatives were said to be insufficiently funded,…

The effects of large-scale improvement projects and the trend toward decentralization on the principal's role in primary and secondary schools in Belgium are explored in this paper. Particular focuses are on the ways in which sociopolitical change influences the nature of school-level leadership and on strategies that principals use in response to…

In successful schools, a significantly larger percentage of students graduate with knowledge, skills, and a positive attitude toward citizenship and work than students in other schools of comparable socioeconomic status. Using data from the "Tennessee Looks at Its Schools" project, which was based on fourth-grade Stanford Achievement…