This article examines heterosexist assumptions and the role of homophobia in students' experiences in California's public "Single Gender Academies," in an effort to include issues of sexuality in current discourses on adolescent gender identity and public school reform. Interviews with students, conducted as part of the most…

For over a decade, University of Florida researchers worked with middle schools in a large urban and suburban south Florida district, as they developed and then worked to sustain inclusive reform. One middle school, Socrates, was notably successful, having built its inclusion model on a foundation of previous reform and a school culture…

The State of Florida Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for the present report to produce data sets for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating students in 2007 and 2008. Summary data for the district are also provided.…

A voucher system of schooling would destroy the few democratic gains made in public education in recent years, worsen inequalities that already permeate education, and block opportunities for meaningful reform. Articles included in this special issue are: (1) an introduction, "Why We Are Publishing False Choices" ("Rethinking…

This manual is designed to assist California school personnel to respond to the increasing diversity in student populations, with a change process based on principles of shared leadership through a decentralized site-based management method. The organization change model utilized by the pilot schools is the California Local Education Reform…

The authors in this book address the issues that relate to the crisis in American education and review some of the proposed solutions. To transform education, schools must be examined as social systems that are interrelated with families, communities, and the world of work. Following the introduction, section 1, "Conditions for Educational…

This issue features the opinions of some highly respected, but often controversial, educators who stand outside the mainstream of education reform. They often advocate more structured and top-down approaches to the problems of urban students as they consider the standards that must be created to promote achievement for all students. "No Magic…

This collection includes creative teaching ideas, articles, essays, poems, reproducible handouts, resources, lesson plans, narratives and hands-on examples of ways teachers can promote values of community, justice and equality, while building academic skills. The book is divided into seven parts. Part 1, "Introduction", includes: (1) "Creating…

The papers in this collection describe how education is being reinvented in urban school systems in the United States. Selections discuss the urban landscape, the social context of schooling, and the theory and practice of multiculturalism. Papers include: (1) "Introduction: Reinventing Urban Education" (Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz); (2) "The…

This paper traces the origins of professional development schools (PDSs), describes their characteristics, examines a network of PDSs, considers the place of PDSs in developing the teaching profession, addresses problems and concerns associated with developing and sustaining PDSs, and draws implications for teacher preparation and the teaching…

This report describes eight exemplary schools serving minority students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in Texas, California, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Schools were chosen by nomination. The report is divided into 10 chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the report, and provides background information on how the eight schools…

The Chicago School Reform Act provided a rare opportunity for those who were involved in the development of the legislation to be primarily responsible for the initial implementation of the plan. The governance model of the Reform Act, which is the subject of this study, provided for an elected school counsel at each of 542 schools and maintained…

The more revolutionary, drastic education reform efforts are usually supported by new governmental legislation. This book offers three case studies of drastic reform carried out in Kentucky, Alberta, and Chicago. The reforms can be visualized in terms of how close they are to the alternative aims of expert guidance, social activism, and an…

In December 1996 the New York State Legislature enacted sweeping changes in the structure and governance of the New York City public school system. The legislature and the Governor have shifted over one million school children, their parents, and their teachers back to a centralized, hierarchical system, in which one person, the chancellor,…

In this memoir, a principal recounts the story of his 2 years at Edison Elementary School in San Francisco (CA), a school that was called the worst school in California. The students had the worst standardized test scores in the district, and racial discord and playground violence were common. The school was facing the threat of reconstitution,…