Denver is currently in the national education spotlight, largely because of its willingness to try a unique combination of major education reforms not seen in other large urban school districts. While many observers hold these reforms in high regard, a steep road lies ahead. Current student results are unacceptable by all measures. The time is…

In 2004, The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice published a report titled "Grading Vouchers: Ranking America's School Choice Programs." Its purpose was to measure every existing school choice program against the gold standard set by Milton and Rose Friedman: that the most effective way to improve K-12 education and thus ensure a stable…

Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of 29 Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) models suggests that all 29 models are less cost-effective than an alternative approach for raising student achievement, involving rapid assessment systems that test students 2 to 5 times per week in math and reading and provide rapid feedback of the results to students and…

Quint reports on a synthesis evaluation of three widely used high school reform models--Talent Development, First Things First, and career academies. She highlights approaches within each model that helped high schools restructure themselves in ways that affected student outcomes, particularly for struggling 9th graders and students from…

Growing concern about the academic proficiency of high school graduates has placed high school reform at the forefront of the education policy agenda. Critics have begun to question the degree of academic rigor in the nation's high schools, and many states and school districts are looking for ways to address this issue. This month's newsletter…

There is a need for a better understanding of how to build empowering environments and schools, based on empirical findings rather than rhetoric or opinion. This book uses 2 large national studies conducted over 6 years in 26 schools, as well as other research. It will be useful to students in leadership training classes and to practitioners…

The caring ethic is explored as an educational reform effort in the context of other reform efforts that have proven to be fads that quickly fade from consciousness. Advocates of the caring ethic are in danger of pushing it toward faddishness. Ways to avoid this outcome are suggested. (SLD)

The theory that strong external accountability improves school performance fails to recognize the importance of internal accountability and insufficient efforts to develop organizational capacity. A study of 24 restructuring schools found that schools with strong external accountability tended to have low capacity; strong internal accountability…

A major organizational change is necessary to promote more equitable and effective instructional grouping schemes in schools. A palatable restructuring alternative that combines effective grouping with the flexibility to meet each school's needs is parallel block scheduling. This system capitalizes on teachers' strengths, promotes greater mixing…

The authors assert that the present educational system is not responding to the demands of the environment, but schools may be performing at their capacity and unable to improve further. They propose system redesign and implementation as part of an alternative frame of reference regarding reform. (Author)

Continuing use of outdated design is the main source of the crisis in education. The existing system should be "trans-formed" rather than "re-formed." Transformation requires the development of organizational capacity and collective capability to engage in systems design with a broad vision of what should be. (Author/JOW)

Addresses the need for restructuring schools in ways that encourage educational reform, the integration of school and community, and the building of covenants for the eradication of ignorance and hierarchy, which are barriers to systemic change. (SK)

A school system cannot restructure or transform itself without trust. The process demands a shared belief system--belief in the leadership, the integrity of all participants, the vision they develop, and agreed-upon goals. An essential part of earning trust is communicating with the community. (MLH)

Highlights the initial restructuring efforts begun by a Pennsylvania high school participating in the Coalition of Essential Schools. After several years of discussion, the staff undertook summer inservice training featuring a reading project, an ideal/reality exercise, a shadowing project, and a school visitation process. Choosing an…

An elementary principal describes the physically exhausting, but professionally fulfilling process of opening a new school in Valparaiso, Indiana. High points included hiring faculty and staff, organizing volunteer parents, videotaping opening day, selling sweatshirts, taking an all-school picture, holding a school dedication ceremony, and burying…