What urban middle school principals engaged in school reform felt they needed to know and the strategies that maximize their learning were studied with 23 principals involved in extended professional development. Principals valued the components of staff development that have been supported by the National Staff Development Council. (SLD)

Drawing lessons from the rise and fall of Philadelphia's reform efforts offers the benefit of hindsight to other cities. The engagement of stakeholders from different sectors of the community is crucial to the success of a reform. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/MLF)

The Memphis Restructuring Initiative's first-year data-gathering efforts have yielded implications for policy and practice. This article discusses findings and implications in seven areas: opportunity to choose, goals and directions, professional development, "constructivist" teaching and learning, authentic assessment, disjunctures…

This guide is meant to help educators assess elementary schools' technology programs and determine their needs in this area. A list of questions and guidelines for conducting a needs assessment is provided to ensure enough classroom up-to-date computer workstations and to evaluate the need for a technology resource center. A catalog with…

Three high schools in Minnesota's Twin Cities area exemplify impressive educational equalization gains stemming from a 1971 law shifting school funding from local taxes to state income and sales taxes. Although the schools vary in structure, populations, and leadership style, all are accomplishing major restructuring efforts via flexible…

Research on school restructuring provides little evidence that teacher-student-principal relationships are changing. Staffs may be confusing structural with normative thinking, which requires them to reflect critically about their schools as work places. Suggests that school-constructed theories in practice that promote critical thinking and…

If Western school systems become more diversified and fracture into broad sectors (private, specialized, home, and custodial/neighborhood schools), the teaching profession will follow suit. From a policy perspective, politicians' demands are rising and are not easily met within a perspective that values creation of social equity and national…

Asserts that providing all students with an equal opportunity to succeed in school requires a comprehensive, multifaceted approach that addresses barriers to learning and teaching. Specifically addresses: (1) barriers to learning, development, and teaching; (2) moving to a three-component model for school reform; (3) an enabling component…

The Dalton Plan, developed by Helen Parkhurst in the 1920s, completely restructured the secondary school day into subject labs, with students determining their daily schedules. Eschewing the usual bell-driven, factory worker model, this approach abolished traditional classrooms and homework and allowed students to select monthly contracts and…

Key educators from 16 schools engaged in the outcome-based education (OBE) movement were interviewed to determine why their schools adopted OBE and its current and future status at the schools. These administrators were committed to OBE and were very optimistic about its potential for real change in the schools. (SLD)

Describes a case study that combined ethnographic and interview methods to gain an understanding of the types of decisions and factors influencing those decisions within the design inquiry phase of a high school's system-transformation effort. Factors discussed include the facilitator's role, information needs, user-based design teams, and…

Discusses site-based management in schools and suggests implications for school library media specialists. Topics addressed include historical background, including total quality management; current changes in education, including school restructuring; and a review of recent research and literature from 1990-93. (Contains seven references.) (LRW)

Discussion of restructured schooling and restructured teacher education focuses on the needed interaction between schools, university-based teacher education, and technology. A school/university partnership between George Mason University and Fairfax County (Virginia) public schools is described that provided field experiences for an educational…

This article profiles Bena Kallick, a renowned consultant on thinking, assessment, and school restructuring. The constant thread throughout Kallick's staff development career has been her focus on helping educators and parents examine what they want for their schools, how to achieve their vision, and what their children are learning. (SM)

Discusses the need for school restructuring. Topics include diversity of the student population; funding; the adoption process for new ideas and educational innovations; the need for systemic change; approaches to change; and the role of instructional technologists, including the instructional design process. (LRW)