Explains application procedures for state first-year funding under Title III of the Goals 2000 Act and the requirements of a state's second-year application. Cites two resources for building successful community partnerships to improve schools, and lists federal requirements that may be waived if they impede the implementation of state or local…

With a $30,000 Carnegie Foundation grant, a Baltimore middle school launched a school-improvement team comprised of teacher representatives and "house" principals from "schools-within-schools," parents, community members, and the principal. After 4 years of tackling test scores, attendance, curriculum, scheduling, and parental…

Examines school/family partnerships in the middle grades. Focuses on comprehensive district-wide programs, school restructuring, and adult/child learning programs studied at nine sites. Summarizes lessons concerned with high-stakes consequences, parental involvement opportunities, decision-making responsibility, leadership advocacy, support for…

An acclaimed former New York City principal says small school size is an absolute prerequisite for school reform. Smallness, to be effective, must be accompanied by control over budget, staffing, scheduling, and the specifics of curriculum and assessment. (MLF)

Time for teachers cannot be readily constructed and scheduled by reformers. Teachers need to construct their own time. The article examines different kinds of time for teachers, arguing that much of school reform will fail if it ignores the multiple constructs, boundaries, rhythms, and patterns of time for teachers. (SM)

Though sport, fitness, and active leisure are increasingly valued, secondary school physical education (PE) is often devalued. The America 2000 educational reform agenda offers a chance to restructure secondary PE based on guidelines which direct emerging trends in middle and high school restructuring. National and state leadership are crucial.…

Professional study groups have been a dominant feature of the Richmond County (Georgia) Schools' educational improvement efforts since 1987. Study groups offer a structure that turns all individuals into learners eager to assume responsibility for their own learning and that of colleagues and students. The principal's active participation is a key…

Explores research on principals' teacher evaluation competence, focusing on rating skills, student achievement impact, classroom observation effects, improvement strategies, and monitored performance. Teacher evaluation is frequently ineffective because of improperly selected purposes, excessively complex criteria, faulty or missing theory and…

Like most other reform models, Hawkins's social reconstructive wedge model of curricular reform does not include the multiethnic and multicultural realities at the core of social reconstruction today. Our social order is crumbling around us, but we have no models dedicated to building a unified society for all our citizens. (MLH)

Discusses the synergistic interrelationships among the changes in our views of learning/teaching, the integration of technology, and the restructuring in our educational systems. Topics addressed include educational reform, constructivism, current use of technology, the effectiveness of technology, global telecommunications and collaboration, and…

Interviews with members of three school boards in New Zealand highlight their reactions to the impact of educational restructuring, which included goals of social equity and cultural inclusiveness. Many members thought that standards were high and they supported equity policies. (SK)

Although restructuring efforts commonly begin at the site level, Reed Union School District initiated its participative decision-making process at the district level. To end collective-bargaining strife, seven teacher representatives, one classified representative, the district's three principals, the superintendent, and two board members formed a…

There have been few studies on restructuring's effect on central office administrators. By analyzing 74 chief executive officers' perceptions about how restructuring is shaping the superintendency in Kentucky, this study helps address this gap. Three themes emerged: an enhanced superintendent role in developing community; redefinition of…

Whether organizational and curricular changes introduced through restructuring endure and/or result in long-term benefits for students and teachers is hard to determine. Using a longitudinal case study of a restructured high school, this paper argues that the dynamics of "institutionalization" and "renewal" drawn from earlier…

Evaluates the Ohio Reading Recovery Program as a way to redesign teachers' work, empower teachers and affect the core technology of teaching. Analyzes data collected by a survey consisting of open-ended questions and categorical response items, using the restructuring paradigm. Discusses implications for school restructuring. (28 references) (MLH)