This paper reports on a study that examined the concept of trust-a critical element in the social glue that bonds the organizational team together and enables effective collective action in schools. It delineates an organizational context for consideration of the concept of trust in interactions in restructured schools. The study suggests that the…

For its sixth national conference, a national collaboration in support of school reform sharpened its focus by asking Houston Independent School District (HISD) to host the conference and serve as a "case study." HISD was an ideal subject because of a long history of addressing statewide standards-based reform and engaging in multiple…

This document reports on a study of a model full-service community school and explains the kind of services provided, staffing considerations, ways of involving community partners, governance arrangements, and parent involvement. It considers the barriers to creating this kind of school and explores ways to fund programs. The narrative offers a…

This paper describes how characteristics of complex educational change can hinder efforts to achieve equity. It reports that factors beyond the control of educational leaders may hamper their wish of equality. The article is based on an investigation of large-scale local education areas (LEAs) and how initiatives to reorganize schools were managed…

This guide describes what states can do to support and encourage the fundamental restructuring of the education of young adolescents in the middle grades. Its framework is based on the eight principles for restructuring middle grade education developed in "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century," prepared by the…

This paper provides a basic understanding of the changes taking place within education governance. The document opens with a description of the traditional education governance system, typified by a centralized, bureaucratic approach that has been the predominant mode of public education governance for most of the 20th century. The focus then…

This paper reports on a study of site-level resource managers in schools. The paper brings together experiences of the United Kingdom and the United States educational systems to explore issues of educational resource management at the school-site level. The paper focuses on the role of the bursar, the term used in the U.K. to describe a senior…

SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) is one of the 10 federally funded regional educational laboratories. This annual publication captures and shares the experiences of SERVE school districts that have volunteered to share their efforts at assessment reform. This issue contains the following: (1) "We Never Get over the Fear of…

This book is part of a series of case studies that demonstrate better ways to educate Ohio's students. The case study is part of the Transforming Learning Communities (TLC) Project, designed to support significant school-reform efforts among Ohio's elementary, middle, and high schools. This report describes the implementation of an innovative…

This book is part of a series of case studies that demonstrate better ways to educate Ohio's students. The case study is part of the Transforming Learning Communities (TLC) Project, designed to support significant school-reform efforts among Ohio's elementary, middle, and high schools. This report discusses an innovative program at an elementary…

This paper discusses the Collaborative Action Team (CAT) process, which was initiated by the U.S. Department of Education, and which encourages the development of partnerships among families, community members, school personnel, and students in communities with histories of ongoing and underserved needs. CAT is based on a set of core principles…

Significant changes have occurred in education and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Australian and New Zealand schools in the years since the publication of "Learning in an online world: the school education action plan for the information economy" (2000). These reflect inter-related developments in: (1)…

School reform efforts over the last two decades have become increasingly more complex and systemic. Yet, studies that have as their primary purpose identifying and understanding the function of linkages in school reform processes are virtually nonexistent in the school effects and school improvement literature. This report proposes a model that…

The real-life drama 25 years ago when Apollo 13 was rescued through a collaborative team of colleagues provides a model for changes in many public schools. In Texas, the state code specifies that site-based decision making address planning, budgeting, curriculum staffing patterns, staff development, and school organization. (MLF)

The main strength of this book is that it is grounded in an array of research on school reform efforts that it combines with practical suggestions about what works and what does not. It constitutes a useful addition to the educational literature on school reform efforts; unfortunately, it lacks adequate discussions of the complex causes of…