The author describes the process of randomized study for charter schools. Because most charter schools have more applicants than places, which are awarded by lottery, it is possible to follow a charter school's entire pool of applicants. The author contrasts the ability of using the entire applicant to pool of charter schools to a study that…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) A State of the States Roundup: State Governors Address High School Reform and College Preparation; and (2) "Big…

This book concentrates on the connection between organizational behavior and the clamor for school reform, whether market-based, standards-based, or whole-school reform. It explains the great need for school leaders to develop a theory and practice that draws on what is known about organizational behavior in education. Educational leaders need a…

The final report of this federally supported 3-year direct research project describes products developed in the project's investigation of inclusive education of students with severe disabilities and models of collaboration in inclusive urban schools. Year 1 resulted in research on inclusive education in the context of school reform. During Year 2…

This research brief examines the potential of technology to further the goals of restructuring U.S. schools. Strategies are presented for restructuring schools with technology. Although restructuring means different things to different people, the restructuring movement has generally focused on reorganizing school processes, taking a…

This book provides the background to the movement of lifelong learning and is a practical guide to focusing the needs and motivations of the individual learner. The guide recognizes that progress is made through the development of individual personal potential and examines the new roles of education, government, and business organizations, and of…

An Effective Rural Schools delivery model for small rural high schools was developed by teachers, parents, community members, and principals in a southwestern Alaska district. The model aimed to replace the typical "bush" high school model with effective resource management and delivery strategies that would work in small high schools.…

This report explores the technical, political, and socio-cultural dimensions of the scaling up process of Success for All (SFA), one of the nation's most successful and extensively researched whole-school change models. SFA, a reform effort aimed at elementary schools serving disadvantaged children, is currently being implemented in over 475…

Much of the recent discussion on basic education finance in Latin America points to a decline in education funding and to problems in the political economy of the education sector. This paper presents findings of a study that reviewed the existing framework for education finance and proposed a more organic linkage between education finance and…

A study examined the impact of school professional community on the intellectual quality of student achievement (authentic achievement) and the relationship of professional community to the technical and social organization of the classroom, including the mediating relationship of these classroom organizational features on authentic achievement.…

Path analysis was used to test the relationships between the resources provided to site councils in site-based management (such as administrative support for site-based management), council communication and decision making practices, and perceived outcomes in terms of effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction. Data were collected form 12 schools…

This paper provides a summary of the knowledge base on serving students with special needs through inclusive education approaches, and it discusses the implications for restructuring regular and special education practices for school-based implementation of inclusive education. The first section is an introduction to some of the basic assumptions…

This paper reports preliminary results of two models of school reform initiated in Texas during the summer of 1997. The Texas Accelerated Schools Model began with an intense 5-day training of school teams from schools that had completed a "buy-in" process, along with their external coach, The Schoolwide Planning Summer Institutes began…

The North Carolina Partnership for Accelerated Schools was created to contribute to North Carolina's efforts to reform its educational system. Nine schools (seven elementary schools and two middle schools) that are in this partnership are profiled. The schools profiled were at various stages of implementing the Accelerated School process and had…

This paper analyzes changes in decision-making in France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and tries to identify trends in these countries' reforms. In general, the reforms initiated by these five countries redesigned the loci of decision-making between the government levels, modified the modes of decision at these levels, and…