Develops a theoretical model of the salient organizational variables related to mathematics achievement in high school. The model is composed of three variables: socioeconomic status, academic press, and collective efficacy. Finds, for example, that collective efficacy is the significant variable in the model in influencing mathematics…

Four top corporate executives were invited to help school executives formulate the shape of future school/business partnerships and to name the single most meaningful educational change needed. Most emphasized business's supportive role in shaking up a failing system, turning around the nation's worst schools, and developing a competent labor…

New York's Johnson City Central School District adopted the teacher support. Includes seven references. (MLH)

Understanding facilitative aspects of power is necessary for analyzing processes and outcomes in today's schools. Facilitative, interactive power has become commonplace when no single individual or role commands decision-making control without dependence on expert knowledge and collegial cooperation. Examples include individualized educational…

Based on a long-term public school system study, the paper examines the sociopsychological process through which conflicts move around in organizations and are transported from one place to another. The conceptualization draws on "triangulation" from social psychology and family therapy and "splitting," developed in…

The continuing interest in standardized testing alternatives suggests that the make-a-better-mousetrap mentality still flourishes in education and employment assessment circles. Some promising new testing technologies might broaden the range of human talents assessed. However, educators must refuse to accept bondage to any single technology, no…

A recent organizational study examined the different cultural worlds of senior members of the academic staff at the University of Melbourne. Outlines a new culture perspective that is applied to academic organization and emphasizes the utility and value of a cultural view. (53 references) (SI)

American charter schools feature a dual reform strategy that combines state-initiated reform with local flexibility. In Britain, as in the U.S., charter school reform has been accompanied by centralized curriculum and student-assessment policies and decentralized implementation strategizing. Policymakers and practitioners must collaborate to…

After studying numerous schools involved in restructuring, Fred Newmann and his research team concluded that reform-minded schools must address how learning can have intellectual quality and communities of learners can be built. This interview summarizes insights from five studies recently published by the Center on Organization and Restructuring…

Adoption of a learning-to-learn perspective in secondary agricultural education is affected by school policy, inservice training, and teachers' professional orientation. School management and policy must reflect the perspective that fostering the quality of students' independent learning is the central mission. School organizations should become…

School organization and incentive structures help thwart large-scale adoption of innovative educational practices. Evidence from the progressive movement and past curriculum reform efforts suggest that wide-scale reforms are ineffective under current conditions. Change requires external normative structures, organizations that focus intrinsic…

Emphasizing factual knowledge undermines educators' attempts to engage students in meaningful activities. Students involved in process work are more deeply engaged, retain more, and perform better on achievement measures. Teaching methodology, types of knowledge, and school structure are intertwined. Methodology drives structure, and structure…

Relates the experience of a speech communication faculty who chose, in a campus reorganization, to locate themselves in a professional college. Discusses benefits and difficulties. (SR)

Considers where English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs belong and presents responses from several ESL faculty members. Among the topics are ESL in its own department, housed in several departments, outside the departmental structure, within the English department, and within a modern language department. (GLR)

Teacher absenteeism appears highest in elementary schools, schools with lower student achievement, schools composed of economically disadvantaged and minority students, and urban school districts. Survey of Brooklyn high schools found high teacher absenteeism; in addition, attendance patterns were habitual, teachers holding temporary teaching…