National standards for education are important elements in the excellence process, but standards imposed by a central authority simply do not work in the Information Era. It would be wise to increase teachers' decision-making role in establishing and implementing local level excellence standards and train teachers to employ the Japanese "kaizen"…

The process of changing was assessed in four schools at the midpoint of a five-year essential schools restructuring effort in Illinois. Cross-case analysis results in identification of factors affecting the change process by examining benchmarks of substantial agreement, observable change, all-school participation, and systemic leadership. (SLD)

Describes how high school peer tutoring programs can enhance educational outcomes, including increased academic performance, for students with and without moderate and severe disabilities. The role of such programs in educational restructuring is addressed, as is the way such programs can promote general education class participation and community…

Explores the knowledge teachers will need to have in the future and considers the implications of new requirements for teaching and teacher education. Advances several propositions for changes in the perception of pedagogical knowledge, school curricula, and school structure and proposes a strategy of "core" and "periphery" aspects of…

In 1989, Swift Current Division in Saskatchewan, Canada, initiated the Chalk, Chips, and Children technology project. The project was funded by various corporate partners and developed by a broadly constituted advisory committee. The principal's role changed drastically as he reexamined leadership competencies and faculty developed their own…

Examined the nature of culture change that occurred at an alternative continuation high school for at-risk students (n=116) and changes in student attitudes over 2 years. Quantitative and qualitative data show the effectiveness of the school's Team Learning Projects model and the school's restructuring program. (SLD)

Two national reform movements--one focused on creating small, autonomous schools, the other fixated on a standardization agenda--are basically in conflict. The standards movement is touting the traditional, top-down, centralized, bureaucratic system modeled after Frederick Taylor and his efficiency experts. Progressive, decentralized initiatives…

Explores a creative middle-school structure that provides a block of about two hours in the school day when one teacher has a group of students engaged in a variety of interdisciplinary activities. The concepts of learning circles and group-dependent projects are discussed. The core of the proposed middle school is constructivism. (SLD)

Describes the values and associated behaviors of seven school administrators who foster and sustain democratic practices in schools engaged in restructuring. These administrators reject the centrality of the principal's role and prominently display values supporting equity, inclusion, mutual influence, and candor. These administrators' behavior…

Shows how reducing the recapture provision in a property-tax-dependent education-funding formula adversely affected fiscal equality in Alberta, Canada, from 1974 through 1992. An alternative plan would have recaptured .77 percent more of the funds in 1992. Another plan (full tax-base recapture) would ensure equitable distribution, compared to full…

This case study of an inner-city teacher education program in Canada documents the tensions at work on a social reconstructionist academic staff attempting to produce a culturally relevant teacher education program. Staff members acknowledge the social and educational contexts in which they work while working for the long-term interests of their…

Describes programmatic changes in reference services at the Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) medical library and speculates on the future. Topics include institutional restructuring and consolidation; improvements in technology infrastructure; external economic pressure; and fiscal accountability, including library funding and cost center…

School supervision, an important component of China's educational structural reform, arose from the need to implement government policies for modernization and political control and enhance scientific policy making in education. Although the new, decentralized system has helped implement government policies and increased administrative…

Presents the view that genuine educational reform is impossible in today's political, social, and economic climate. Today's policymakers are not truly antipoverty and do not truly care about the plight of the less fortunate. The current preoccupation with economic progress means that reform has come to mean inattention. (SLD)

Describes the activities of two prominent science educators who presided over Australian science curriculum reforms during the 1960s and 1970s. Represents the educators' actions as heroic and describe how the Heroes shaped, modified, and united the culture through referents, rituals, and artifacts. Speculates on the importance of heroic activity…