Concerned Women for America opposes transformational outcome-based education because it coopts parents and shifts the focus from cognitive education to affective education. Children belong to their parents, not the state. Education should provide the essential academics that, combined with the values and beliefs learned at home, will determine…

Describes restructuring in a Western Australian school district. Provides background information and summarizes findings of a case study exploring what primary teachers thought about the restructuring of their work. The 60 teachers interviewed generally thought the restructuring process negatively influenced their curriculum work. Teachers felt…

Fourteen teachers with diverse school roles were interviewed about their views on the U.S. educational reform movement and their own ideas for change. Results suggest that the teachers are optimistic about the possibilities of fundamental school reform in the future but skeptical about their ability to change the current system. (Author/LB)

A chart presents details about school-based management systems in Chicago, Boston, Kentucky, Duluth, Dade County (Florida), and Texas, focusing on decision making, parent and community involvement, and structure. (SM)

Effective administrator preparation programs provide students with self-awareness and insight about their thought patterns and behaviors' influence on executing their leadership roles. This paper describes a current university pilot program based on these assumptions, discusses program effectiveness as perceived by student participants, and…

Discusses the change to a choice-based school system in Great Britain under the Education Reform Act of 1988. Compares the British system with proposed changes in the United States. Describes the changes that have placed budgeting and management in the hands of the individual schools that have the power to "opt out" of school district…

Offers guidelines for selecting community members for systemic restructuring efforts in public schools. Definitions of community and of systemic restructuring, or educational systems design, are presented; the importance of selection efforts is discussed; a community selection model is described and explained; and further research is suggested.…

Current school restructuring focuses too little on changes in principal appraisal procedures. The article considers the meaning of school restructuring and discusses change strategies that foster good school restructuring. A discussion of transformational leadership's role in school restructuring is presented along with guidelines for designing…

Although school boards are venerable U.S. institutions symbolizing local control and grass-roots determination, they do not work well and never have, despite establishment of superintendencies and privatization efforts. Needed reforms include establishing training and background requirements, banning educational conflicts of interest, strictly…

Tupelo (Mississippi) Superintendent Mike Walters eschewed his former "happy bureaucrat" role for a facilitative role allowing teachers to reinvent curriculum and instruction. Inspired by Deming's continuous-improvement precept and aided by a $3.5 million grant from the area's Fortune-500 business community, this superintendent finds…

Book review discusses Howard Gardner's belief that schools typically fail in their most important missions, and accurate diagnosis is necessary for more effective education. Gardner recommends educating disciplinary experts who can help students integrate prescholastic and scholastic ways of knowing. A response by Gardner is included. (SM)

Notes that there is an increased emphasis on moving away from instructional support models that pull mainstreamed handicapped children out from their classroom during the school day. Discusses three approaches--in-class instructional support, extended schooling, and schoolwide restructuring--that are among the most frequently selected…

A significant number of American high schools are trying to restructure the traditional organization by designing smaller house plans, advisory systems, and block schedules enabling them to serve today's students' diverse needs. Besides helping to personalize learning, such nontraditional schooling alternatives can help create a healthy…

Ackoff's circular structure has been successfully used to combine hierarchy and democracy in various industries. This paper argues that this structure is the most appropriate democratic structure for public schools' internal governance. A circularity of power relations between administrators and teachers would create genuinely empowering teacher…

Discussed is the crisis in science education which reflects larger educational problems and signals a possible economic disaster. Suggested measures include mobilizing federal and private resources, strengthening the schools, a new and improved draft, and changes in the workplace. (KR)