When the transition to market economy began, there was an unsatisfied demand for business education. A supply response has occurred, but business education is still developing. The authors argue that private schools can help mobilize resources and increase the quality and accessibility of business education. Drawing on surveys covering 15…

The Department of Education's announcement of new leeway in meeting federal teacher-quality demands was praised as welcome relief by many education leaders. But others, including two pivotal congressional Democrats, charged that the action would lower expectations for teachers in rural communities. Facing widespread complaints about the…

The National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Association of State Boards of Education jointly devised recommendations in 11 areas in order to achieve America's education goals for every student since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. These recommendations included giving…

This article critically examines two sets of ideas that have influenced educational reform in the recent past: managerialism and market approaches. It is argued that while each can be demonstrated to have led to useful change, neither provides a basis for future improvement in education. A recent example of change within the State School sector of…

In 1997, the Illinois legislature passed House Bill 542 (Public Act 90-548) which changed teacher tenure requirements to a four-year, multi-tiered system that called for the accumulation of professional development credit for all teachers. The primary purpose of this study was to examine district responses to the 1997 legislation. To what degree,…

Substantial policy and political changes have resulted from a 2001 state takeover of the Philadelphia School District and the subsequent hiring of Paul Vallas as the district's new CEO. Using the lens of urban regime analysis, which emphasizes the importance of public and private actors in forming a governing coalition, this article analyzes the…

An inquiry was conducted to evaluate which level of government in Nebraska should be responsible for funding the education of wards of the state and the court. The document presents an overview of Nebraska legislative history and the state-aid framework. LB 3, passed in 1992, was an attempt to eliminate the tuition charge to the state for all…

Since 1988, the governance and organization of education in England and Wales have moved decisively in the direction of decentralization and site-based management. Under the Education Reform Act of 1988 and the Education Act of 1993, local education agencies (LEAs) have acquired new responsibilities via local management of schools (LMS) and…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined changing governance structures in the educational systems of several European countries. The reforms have developed new modalities for the content, standards, administration, and control of education. Special attention is given to the relation between the reforms in authority structures and the…

This document outlines a community-based state school system that allows a large degree of local autonomy in exchange for heightened accountability for school performance. It highlights a model education platform for candidates in the 1994 election. A system of educational excellence for the 21st century would be performance-based, locally…

A cluster of schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, is working to meet the changing educational needs of its student population. The state of Maryland has developed partnerships with business and local service providers to improve school performance. House Bill 874 provided for Challenge School funds to help local schools reach Maryland's Schools…

This case study reports on a program that permits waivers of individual rules in order to encourage local innovation. Enacted in 1989, Washington State's Schools for the 21st Century program allows participating schools and districts to request waivers from state rules believed to impede restructuring efforts. The pilot project also supplies…

In June 1995, the Idaho Joint Legislative Oversight Committee directed the Office of Performance Evaluations to conduct an evaluation of school district pupil transportation. This report, the last in a series of four, examines the apparent cost difference between district-operated transportation programs and those that are contracted to…

A study was conducted to discover ways to improve California school district facilities improvement processes so that the state can accommodate the increasing numbers of students projected by the year 2000. This report presents findings and recommendations that address the following three primary problem areas the state confronts: funding;…

This document summarizes the proceedings of a 1997 conference on current state monitoring practices and the impact of changes from implementation of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The conference was planned by the Federal/Regional Resource Center/OSEP/NASDEE workgroup on monitoring. The document has…