A rural Minnesota district school board unanimously approved a charter school. Several considerations led to the approval for Minnesota New Country School: greater emphasis on technology and more community involvement. In addition, the board saw the plan as a potential model for nontraditional instruction and administrative strategies. (MLF)

Reports on activities at the 1996 MCN (Museum Computer Network) annual conference in Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) that centered around information management and new technology in museums. Topics include managing change; use of the Internet; digital imaging; intellectual property; copyright; licensing; standards; and integrated information systems.…

NASSP's 1996 report "Breaking Ranks" views principals as pivotal to restructuring high schools. Freeing principals from excessive management entanglements and hiring and training knowledgeable, trustworthy, and credible individuals will help achieve restructuring goals. Credibility characterizes those who are unquestionably honest, value…

Summarizes the child care and welfare provisions of the 1996 welfare reform act. Argues that the new law spells tougher fights ahead to increase or even maintain state child care funding. Urges advocates to "reposition" child care to convince others of its central role in solving social problems. (EV)

Systemic educational reforms will face considerable resistance from the chaotic forces they are designed to keep at bay. This article analyzes this resistance by describing the anxiety commonly associated with the drive to establish order, current anxiety-ridden social conditions, and the meaning and implications of ordering efforts. There are six…

Presents one viewpoint regarding the teaching of irregularities of language structure in courses on English as a Second Language, particularly irregularities of morphology and syntax. It is argued that the vocabulary and morphology of English could be simplified if certain constraints were removed and proposes that certain common language patterns…

This institutional case study of the implementation of a new "learning and teaching strategy" at a British college explores how strategy and policy are responded to by academic managers, front-line academic staff, and students. A range of factors, which may undermine successful policy implementation is identified. An assessment is made…

Examines how to improve urban schools, outlining 14 strategies that urban educators can consider as they seek to handle the unique problems confronting urban students. Strategies include increasing the availability of well-planned early childhood education programs, increasing student time on task by lengthening the school year, developing…

Presents questions that those planning TESOL curriculum change might ask before deciding on the objectives of such change in their own contexts. Suggests that answers to such questions can help provide information about how key players (classroom teachers) are likely to experience the implementation of the objectives. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the issue of online teaching and presents a change model, the Personal Response Model, that focuses on the adoption of online teaching by experienced faculty in higher education. Topics include diffusion of innovations and types of adopters; experiences with instructional development, including emotional response to innovation; and…

Examines three cycles of activities during the multi-year implementation of new student services software at a Masters I public comprehensive college with an enrollment of 12,000. Uses the theoretical framework of transformative leadership. Interpretations and recommendations address organizational issues that can be generalized beyond the…

Considers the use of the World Wide Web in second language acquisition (SLA) within a language learning framework providing a better structure within which the use of networked-based technology can be discussed. It is noted that the model of new concepts of computer assisted language learning proposed in the context of the Internet results from…

Explores ways that higher education can reintegrate cognitive learning and personal development. Discusses a developmental conceptualization of learning and outlines strategies that help students connect learning in college to their lives. Provides both curricular and cocurricular examples and stresses the importance of a shared vision of…

Reviews two books that seek to define the nature and direction of Russian educational reform: "School Reform between 'yesterday' and 'tomorrow'" (Eduard D. Dneprov, Russian Minister of Education, 1990-92) and "Russia: Education in the Transition" (Stephen P. Heyneman of the World Bank). Criticizes their unrealistic assumptions…

Proposes a culture-based, adaptive, decision-making model that calls for the explicit involvement of all members of the community college, especially student affairs personnel, to appropriately address the certainty of change. Examines institutional culture, decision making, quality-focused management, participatory strategies, and the…