Over the past four decades, the concept of leadership has become increasingly more complex and elaborate. Considerable debate has emerged over the most suitable model for educational leadership. Dominating the literature are two conceptual models: instructional leadership and transformational leadership. This paper will review the conceptual and…

In response to Mr. Ayers and Mr. Klonsky, Mr. Duncan argues that Chicago's Renaissance 2010 initiative is holding adults accountable by closing low-performing schools rather than trapping children in a failing educational environment.

This paper presents information to be used by school-leadership teams engaged in the development of school-improvement plans. It reviews recent literature on shared leadership and collaborative schools, school-improvement teams, school culture, and effective schools/positive learning environments. The paper also identifies school-level and…

In 1990, Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Washington, decided to implement four schools-within-schools, each with its separate academic and career focus. The first school, focusing on the area of health science, was implemented in 1992. A second school-within-the-school, the International Business and Global Studies (IBGS) School, was…

Since it is an acknowledged fact that school restructuring will not occur without the support and commitment of teachers, this study attempted to explore teachers' expressions of visionary leadership characteristics. Participants were selected from among teachers who participated in a four-day workshop on school restructuring. The sample consisted…

In the past 2 decades, the United States has had a more troubled experience in establishing common standards and decentralized authority than comparable school systems in other cultures. This paper describes how the National Center for Education and Economy (NCEE) has been working through the National Alliance (NA) for Restructuring Education to…

Vermont is working to reform its educational system, and, according to some assessments, improvements are being made. On average, Vermont's students write reasonably well and fourth graders perform better than national averages in mathematics on selected questions from the National Assessment of Education Performance. However, many students also…

In the early 1980s, a series of research studies reported that American schools had failed to produce literate and numerate graduates. This shortcoming was linked to the nation's declining economic position in the world marketplace, which led to a widespread, intensive school-restructuring movement. Drawing on multiple perspectives, the purpose of…

This paper seeks to tell and untell five stories about the notion of "policy hysteria." The first story, about developments in vocationalism in the United Kingdom over the last decade, serves as illustration for the second story, which is a critical analysis of vocationalist discourse. It is alleged that vocationalist discourse is made…

Current restructuring of education calls for more teacher involvement in the planning and delivery of instruction. This yearbook gives examples of teacher involvement as it updates the supervision process. Four sections include 13 essays by various authors. The first section is entitled "The Context" and includes four essays: (1)…

In recent years the disquieting evidences regarding the poor performance of public education in the United States have led Americans to believe that their nation was at risk. This apprehension has been translated into numerous recommendations for educational reforms. A brief overview of the American public school system uses qualitative examples…

Although school restructuring and school reform are widely talked about topics in educational administration, a difficulty exists in coming to an agreement about definitions of terms. This paper presents findings from a study that surveyed school district superintendents and school board members from 362 school districts in a seven-state area…

In every state of the United States, efforts are under way to improve the way education is provided; however, no single reform strategy dominates. This document summarizes major statewide reforms under way in each of the 50 states. The impetus for reform, the driving agencies or institutions behind reform, as well as the intended results, vary…

A major alternative in school choice is the concept of charter schools: public schools delivering public education and using public dollars, but organized by individuals or groups, not school boards, and operating legally as private, nonprofit organizations or cooperatives. This paper explores the charter school as another option in the search for…

Schools have been intractable to change and the attainment of goals set by reformers. A major failure has been the inability of reformers to confront this intractability. As a result, each new wave of reform learns nothing from earlier efforts and comes up with recommendations that have failed in the past. Nine chapters explore why reform efforts…