America's public schools face a demanding call for reform. This guidebook argues that public schools are failing and that the "education establishment" has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. The book provides guidelines for parents and citizens for making community-based changes or state reform of education. Section 1, "What Is…

This report describes the attitudes of district school board members about the implementation of school reforms based on the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). Information on attitudes toward KERA was gathered by a mail-out, 11-page questionnaire sent to a random sample of 600 local school board members. The questionnaire asked for the…

Given the current social and economic changes, American education must change in order to connect students to the future. This book is comprised of a collection of essays on the topic of systemic change in education. The book focuses on reform for the future by bringing together systems theory with detailed examples of strategies and cases that…

The Partnership Schools Initiative (PSI) originated among Texas schools in 1992 as a network to create an educational system for achieving excellence and equity for all students. Participants in the network developed a matrix to be used by schools embarking on restructuring efforts, which identifies what leaders of successful schools can do to…

Conflict involved in school restructuring is natural and can be beneficial. This paper presents findings of a study that examined conflict between "insiders" and "insider out-groups" within a high school in northeastern Washington State. The high school, located in an urban, low-to-middle income, working-class neighborhood, served a high-risk…

This volume was intended to stimulate new thinking about how to restructure a school program to effectively educate students whose native language is not English. It favors calling such students "English Language Learners" (ELLs). The document provides specific examples of how some California schools have improved their educational…

The activities in this booklet bring together research and practice in formats that enable communities to define and implement strategies for meeting their educational goals. The seven training activities will help teachers, administrators, school board members, parents, and community members transform their schools into places where learning is…

In 1990 the Kentucky General Assembly passed one of the most comprehensive and innovative reform laws in the nation, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Under this law, schools must meet state-defined goals to receive financial rewards. This paper presents findings of a 6-year, field-work study of education reform in four rural Kentucky…

Among the most important funding resources for states and localities are the programs authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Amendments to the ESEA enacted in 1994 make it easier for states and school districts to use ESEA resources to augment, expand, and support state and local reforms that will help move every child…

Six articles by Lynn Olson, published in various issues of "Education Week" starting in January 1993 and ending May 1995, describe a Maryland project to improve elementary education in the State: (1) "Winning NASDC (New American Schools Development Corporation) Project Takes Flight" (the basic skills children need to succeed in…

School restructuring is dependent upon teacher professionalism, and teacher professionalism necessitates the development of collegial behaviors. This paper briefly describes an ongoing study of collegiality in an elementary collegial teacher preparation program. Subjects were student teachers who were paired for a two-semester student teaching…

Incorporating community service into the education of public school students in the United States is becoming a national trend and an important research topic. The implementation of the Louis Feinstein Public Service Program in Sharon Public Schools in Massachusetts was evaluated. A structured interview approach was used to gain information about…

This collection presents the best of 8 years of "Rethinking Schools," an education reform journal created in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) in 1986 by teachers vitally concerned with educational change. This volume contains 29 essays by classroom teachers, as well as pieces by such national reform figures as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Herbert Kohl,…

There has been much recent debate in both educational and political circles about the utility of choice as a means of improving the educational system. This book argues that any discussion of choice must address choice in public schools. The book is organized into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of choice in public education,…

In this document, the Research for Better Schools (RBS) task force developed an overview of restructuring issues to help RBS staff prepare for a June 1989 staff development program on school restructuring. Two major sections focus on the dimensions of restructuring--student learning and organizational relationships. Each section presents a short…