For teachers engaged in the process of policy change, the way that they interpret policy and translate it into their daily practices will influence the implementation and the effects of a policy shift. Thus, it is important and necessary to examine educational decentralization policies from the local perspective, for the ways in which teachers…

Positioned in relationship to reform literature calling for small schools "by design" and interpreting data from a case study of a high performing but low-SES district in a Midwestern state, this paper provides a basis for making sense of the apparent divergence in policies governing schooling structures in rural and urban places. Its…

Drawing on the Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study (QSRLS), this paper documents the assessment practices of about 250 Queensland primary and secondary classrooms and the extent to which they align with those pedagogical practices described as "productive pedagogies" in the research. In considering the extent of this alignment,…

What happens when a highly regulated educational system--one featuring academic freedom, a national outlook, and an input-oriented, state-run bureaucracy--attempts to internationalize and introduce management structures that are outcome-oriented, deregulated, and more efficient? In the case of Germany, examined in this article, it has long been…

This document presents findings of a national study of effective schools programs and other school-based reforms conducted during school year 1991-92. The reforms were broadly defined to encompass school-site improvement efforts designed to develop schoolwide capacity for problem solving, to improve teaching, and to increase student learning. Data…

The Urban Academy (UA), an ungraded New York city alternative public high school, is a school where structures for caring have been constructed to ensure that the young people who attend are surrounded by strong relationships that support their living and their learning. Over 90 percent of the school's students graduate, and over 95 percent of…

This document contains two essays--the first on public education, and the second on private education. The first essay, entitled, "Our Schools and Our Future," points out a paradox--public-opinion polls show widespread public receptivity to fundamental changes in the education system; however, this attitude is accompanied by widespread complacency…

An increasing number of elementary school sites have begun to implement nongraded, multiage, primary developmental learning environments. Nongraded primaries are more than just a loosening of the age limits and a changing of the promotion strategies. This broad educational restructuring strategy provides a unique opportunity for creating new…

In 1988, the Annie E. Casey Foundation began New Futures, an 5-year initiative aimed at preparing disadvantaged urban youth for successful lives as adults. Through grants to five mid-sized cities, the Casey Foundation sought to encourage a fundamental restructuring of the way these communities planned, financed, and delivered educational, health,…

The theme of this inaugural serial issue is "Building a Community of Learners." The serial has been designed to address school restructuring and reform and the roles of teachers, administrators, and parents. The first essay, "Constructing Communities of Cooperation" by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood examines structural change in…

Factors outside of psychology, both positive and negative, are pressing school psychology to re-examine itself. Thus, the time is right for a reconceptualization of doctoral school psychology. This reframing should take into account the relationship of doctoral school psychology to the larger fields of both school psychology and professional…

In 1994, as Chicago (Illinois) completed the fifth year of school reform under the Chicago School Reform Act, the Consortium on Chicago School Research launched its third and fourth surveys of teacher and student responses to change. In all, 39,000 students, 6,200 elementary school teachers, and 2,600 high school teachers completed the surveys.…

Education has emerged as a leading national issue for the 1990s. To address some of the current and future issues facing education, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company asked members of the Metropolitan Life Foundation Education Advisory Council to articulate their views about recent and future directions in public-school-improvement efforts. This…

New American Schools (NAS) is a coalition of several partners dedicated to supporting innovative, successful schools throughout the country. The partners include the Education Commission of the States, the New American Schools Development Corporation, the seven NAS design teams, the RAND corporation, and various school districts and states. This…

With the failure of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to adopt the governor's education reform package, the time is opportune to review the major problems with education in Pennsylvania and some actions that would relieve these problems. The main symptom of education problems, in Pennsylvania as in the nation as a whole, is weak academic…