The negative effects of grade retention should not become an argument for social promotion. Four complementary alternative strategies include enhancing professional development for teachers, employing redesigned school structures (like multiage grouping) that support more intensive learning, providing targeted supports and services when needed,…

Presents results of a school-restructuring case study involving a high school participating in the Coalition of Essential Schools and RE: Learning Project. Nine common coalition principles were implemented, primarily within the school-within-a-school program. Barriers included staff jealousy, political controversy, decreased staff development…

Focuses on how those outside the school can support school improvement. Maintains that the purposes of school improvement determine learning outcomes. Discussion of 10 strategies for supporting school improvement notes the importance of addressing the implicit assumptions that comprise school culture and matching change strategies to type of…

Educational reforms in Russia since 1990 have positive as well as negative aspects. Economic decline that followed the severing of ties among the former republics and regions of Russia itself place severe limitations on the pace and content of reform. The most important developments are the possibility of choice in education and independence of…

Argues that school leaders should act as teachers of their colleagues, assuming the tasks of a teacher in planning curriculum, designing learning activities, and developing consensus among their students/colleagues about what should be done to act on their learning. School renewal and restructuring offer illustrations of the "leader as…

Examines types of leadership, compared on the dimensions of the roles of formal school teachers, the roles of teachers and other school staff, and the value system of leadership. Critical leadership is suggested to be the most promising approach through combining the pursuit of democratic values with explicit examination of structural and cultural…

Describes the restructuring process at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, focusing on changes in the College of Education over four years. Grant monies allowed faculty members to attend programs and conferences, hire specialists, develop a planning document, implement a plan that included 11 new units, and elect unit leaders. (SM)

Examines the relationship between school restructuring on mathematics achievement across categories of school socioeconomic status. Raises questions about the suitability of defining restructuring in terms of any specific reform agenda. Indicates the need for caution regarding the broad implementation of such an agenda in disadvantaged schools.…

Describes a comprehensive school reform initiative in one Memphis, Tennessee district. The restructuring started when the district began collaborating with New American Schools. Data from interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations, and student achievement records revealed which reform designs demonstrated the most progress in team building,…

Explores the role of charter schools and explains why the charter movement is so promising for transforming U.S. education, particularly in urban areas. Addresses three common objections to charter schools and asserts that charter schools can serve the needs of at-risk and disabled students. (SLD)

Uses metaphors of the preparation necessary for painting and for Columbus's journey into the unknown to suggest a model for planning and promoting school reform. Steps include definition of preexisting conditions, assessment of the situation, immersion (communication and trust building among stakeholders), and coordinated strategic and tactical…

In this article, the author reflects on his participation in a project in democratic educational renewal in an inner-city high school in Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1990s. He frames the case study within a number of broader questions in democratic educational research and theory having to do with the need to construct narratives of hope without…

Some public schools do a great job educating students of color to high standards. But they populate public education much the way houses in rural regions appear at night from a jetliner passing high above--as faint beacons. The core challenge of school reform today is to produce not merely a few glimmers of success but the dense glow of thousands…

This article features Boston superintendent Tom Payzant. In a national landscape dotted with dysfunctional urban systems and short-lived superintendents, Payzant stands out. With over a decade at the helm, Payzant is arguably the best big-city school leader in the nation and Boston the most improved urban district. The success side of the Payzant…

In this article, the author profiles the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts. Parker School opened its doors in September 1995 after a year of planning by its founders and prospective members of the community. It began with 120 students in grades seven and eight, and now, ten years later, enrolls 368 students in…