As a result of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act, a number of powers previously exercised at the central administration or board level have devolved upon the Local School Councils (LSCs) and principals. The cooperation of 14 representative schools was enlisted for an ongoing qualitative study of the dynamics of reform at the local level. To date,…

For 3 years, the teachers, administrators, board of education members, and community representatives of San Diego, California, have been working on defining, developing, and implementing restructuring plans at approximately 50 schools. This paper documents and analyzes the development of a new middle school, O'Farrell Community School: Center for…

The new literacy goes beyond the requirements for a high school diploma, including capacities once demanded only of a privileged, college-bound elite. This book concerns this new, higher literacy and whether current educational restructuring efforts are likely to foster such literacy in all students. The study used informal interviewing techniques…

A preliminary collaborative model is presented for the restructuring of the San Diego (California) city schools to implement diverse forms of assessment. It is assumed that collaboration among program evaluation, curriculum, and classroom teachers can foster reforms. Central office staff can enable and facilitate the implementation of different…

The first-year results of a Tennessee college-school partnership program to implement a data-based school improvement change model--the Positive Attitudes in Tennessee Schools Project (PATS)--are summarized in this report. Two major goals of the first year (1989-90) included assessing and improving school climate and enhancing student and teacher…

The Cupertino-Fremont Model Technology Schools (MTS) Project was designed to provide teachers with working knowledge and access to technology while achieving an ultimate goal of integrating technology into instruction to develop students' higher order thinking. By the end of the project's third year, 15 months of research had been completed to…

Lack of variety in course offerings variety has been identified as one of the most detrimental aspects of today's school curriculum. The latest school reform movement's immediate goal is to increase enrollment in four core areas: math, science, computers, and foreign language. The movement's ultimate goal is to increase student achievement. To…

Although the "what" of schooling has become clearer through a convergence of research findings, educators still do not understand the "hows" of effectively using that knowledge to make necessary changes. This paper's objectives are to argue the necessity of fundamental changes in the patterns of schooling (the "whys") and to present a conceptual…

Beginning in December of 1988, and continuing through March 1989, 24 educators (20 teachers and 4 administrators) met for a series of 5 full-day sessions in the Capital Region of New York State to discuss selected themes regarding the state's high schools in the 1990s. Part of the significance of this report, which contains the results of the…

This book focuses on the forces that will shape education politics and policy into the 21st century. Ten chapters written by prominent educators center on the roles to be played by education professionals, local citizen groups, government agencies, and business leaders in shaping education policy, responses to racial and ethnic segregation, school…

This paper examines the relationship between demands for site-based management and restructuring as they bear on recent theory and research on power in organizations. It also defines and describes the new face of power in the schools--facilitative power, power exercised through, rather than over, subordinates. The bulk of the paper consists of an…

The status of current doctoral administrator preparation programs is analyzed. An assessment of 17 doctorate of education programs in administration and leadership concludes that they do not differ significantly from traditional doctorate programs in education in terms of curriculum, student admissions, exit criteria, delivery format, and…

This journal issue features a review of the edited volume, "Building a Professional Culture in Schools," and an interview with Charles Thompson, the associate dean for clinical studies at Michigan State University's College of Education. The review discusses the book's three major sections: one arguing for new professional roles for teachers; a…

This collection of papers addresses three important aspects of professional practice schools: student learning, teacher development, and implementation issues related to collaboration among institutions and state policy environment. The first paper, "The Child as Meaning Maker: The Organizing Theme of Professional Practice Schools" (Ellen M.…

Educating disadvantaged students will demand a national commitment to increasing the resources devoted to the task, restructuring the schools in which the disadvantaged are educated, and conducting research needed to make those schools more effective. Educationally disadvantaged students have been exposed to insufficient educational experiences in…