The historical and current balance among the federal, state, and local levels in the control of education is reviewed in this report, with a focus on effective schools research and the management of change. Five policy instruments are described, which include mandates, inducements, capacity-building, system-changing, and leadership. A conceptual…

School administrators' uses of subjective understandings and common language to gain and maintain power and predictability in their environments are described. Micropolitical theory, with a focus on language, is utilized to understand administrators' knowledge of the assumptive worlds of their subculture, and how these assumptive worlds constrain…

The findings of a pilot study of Pennsylvania's School Performance Incentive (SPI) program are presented in this report. School level incentive policies as elements of the entrepreneurial context of educational restructuring and an organizational model for an incentive-based merit system are also discussed. The study examines the effect of SPI on…

An analysis of the gap between educational productivity and technological advancement concludes that American education's dismal productivity level is partly due to the lack of investment in research and development. Successful school restructuring must include the following innovations: site-based management; public school choice; competitive…

More and more, private for-profit and non-profit organizations are involved in schools. No longer limited to support services like transportation and food services, companies are providing tutoring, directing classroom instruction and managing public and charter schools. School reform has raised the stakes for schools and students, asking for…

"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) House Committee Approves Education Funding Bill: Striving Readers Program Would Receive $5 Million Increase; (2) Role…

The present research is a third-party study of the effects of the School Renaissance (SR) comprehensive school reform (CSR) model on student achievement in 11 elementary and middle schools in Texas. The primary measures used in the study were the Texas Learning Index (TLI) reading and mathematics scores obtained through administration of the Texas…

Educational reform is revitalizing the ways in which the schools relate to the community. This book develops a framework for new school and community relations in response to the current reforms' emphasis on cooperation and collaboration. The book presents a systems approach to defining global, school, and community relations. Chapter 1 provides…

Recommendations are presented for a new form of school governance in British Columbia that takes into account current research on effective schools. In the model described, the provincial government provides the funding, sets the core curriculum, standards, and outcomes, ensures standardized measurement and reporting, and supports field research.…

Describes how Largo, Maryland, redefined and restructured its entire school system. The new plan emphasized community and collaboration, and used a cluster approach as the organizational scheme for change. Now, focus is on both parent and child rather than on the child alone. Outlines the major system structural changes and new administrator,…

Describes two current educational reform strategies: "implementation-of-innovations," which fails to promote sufficient change for all children to succeed; and "indigenous intervention," which encourages indigenous school and community members to create change that will engage students. Describes the Educational and Community…

A case study describes implementation of holistic changes at Jubilee Junior High School in Edson, Alberta (Canada). Changes included "large-group" instruction by a team of teachers; outcome-based assessment, including portfolios; integrated curriculum; and replacement of the school's hierarchical administration with a leadership team of…

Educational reform now focuses largely on school restructuring, making transformational leadership and cultural change models critical issues for school administrators. Both concepts are inextricably linked to communication. Consequently, leadership for change requires a knowledge base in leadership, organizational theory, and communication…

As demand for school reform have grown in Malta in recent years we have noticed increased focus being given to quality issues. As a result the education authorities, due to two main policy initiatives--the introduction of the National Minimum curriculum and school development planning--are encouraging a decentralised form of governance that…

This research brief presents an overview of a 2004 study by G.S. Shannon and P. Bylsma entitled "Characteristics of Improved School Districts: Themes from Research" (Olympia, WA: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction). The authors reviewed more than 80 research articles that investigated the attributes of schools and districts …