Six articles by Lynn Olson, published in various issues of "Education Week" starting in January 1993 and ending May 1995, describe a Maryland project to improve elementary education in the State: (1) "Winning NASDC (New American Schools Development Corporation) Project Takes Flight" (the basic skills children need to succeed in…

School restructuring is dependent upon teacher professionalism, and teacher professionalism necessitates the development of collegial behaviors. This paper briefly describes an ongoing study of collegiality in an elementary collegial teacher preparation program. Subjects were student teachers who were paired for a two-semester student teaching…

Incorporating community service into the education of public school students in the United States is becoming a national trend and an important research topic. The implementation of the Louis Feinstein Public Service Program in Sharon Public Schools in Massachusetts was evaluated. A structured interview approach was used to gain information about…

This collection presents the best of 8 years of "Rethinking Schools," an education reform journal created in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) in 1986 by teachers vitally concerned with educational change. This volume contains 29 essays by classroom teachers, as well as pieces by such national reform figures as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Herbert Kohl,…

There has been much recent debate in both educational and political circles about the utility of choice as a means of improving the educational system. This book argues that any discussion of choice must address choice in public schools. The book is organized into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of choice in public education,…

In this document, the Research for Better Schools (RBS) task force developed an overview of restructuring issues to help RBS staff prepare for a June 1989 staff development program on school restructuring. Two major sections focus on the dimensions of restructuring--student learning and organizational relationships. Each section presents a short…

This book provides alternative answers to those questions about the American educational system that have been answered until now by an outmoded, conservative educational agenda. Following the introduction that describes the rationale for a postmodern deconstruction of educational narratives, 13 chapters present essays on the following questions:…

Leading educational reformers have recently contended that students in U.S. secondary schools rarely are challenged to use their minds in any meaningful way. Faced with the remarkable absence of classroom thoughtfulness in U.S. schools, educational reformers have suggested that major organizational changes are necessary to improve the emphasis on…

This study illustrates with specific designs how the city might meet two critical educational objectives in its first program of new school construction in many years. The study designs show how New York might build schools small enough to meet criteria for effective learning environments and how these small schools might be closely integrated…

This volume of proceedings of the Mid-South Educational Research Association's 23rd annual meeting contains abstracts of discussion sessions, display sessions, symposia, and training sessions. Over 320 abstracts and annotations are included, for sessions that cover the whole range of educational research. Assessment and measurement, educational…

This document found that the California school system has managed to improve its efficiency and performance over the last decade. However, the system is strained to capacity and will have a difficult time meeting upcoming challenges. It must be redesigned to shift the responsibility for improving student achievement to the local level and replace…

Based on visits to four Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) sites in the spring of 1990 and interviews with Apple ACOT staff, this paper represents the first round of a 3-year study for Apple Computer, Inc., about the role of ACOT in educational restructuring. An overview of the ACOT project is presented, and the evolution and structure of ACOT…

Some baseline information is offered in this study to help determine the ends to which the strategic planning processes are being put and the outcomes that are being pursued. A conceptual overview of planning models and the role of planners are presented. The complete study comprises a two-stage process of data collection. First, strategic plans…

Now that there are enough school-restructuring experiments to evaluate, one can examine what has been learned about transforming the restructuring concept into reality. Although principals recognize that restructuring will reshape their leadership role, studies show these administrators are pivotal to school-improvement efforts. Fred Newmann…

Popular demands for school restructuring are increasingly common. This book is designed for diverse audiences who are interested in school improvement. Chapter 1, "Restructuring: In Search of a Movement" (Joseph Murphy), provides a historical and conceptual framework of restructuring efforts. Chapter 2, "Feeling the Ripples, Riding…