This volume presents a "big picture" perspective on the charter-school movement. It provides a definition of charter schools, what they are, and where they fit on the landscape of school reform; an explanation of why charters enjoy widespread bipartisan support; a look at how charters are situated in the larger school-reform movement of the last…

The Disadvantaged Schools Program (DSP) has been an important and integral part of education for many Australian students for over a decade. After reviewing eight school effectiveness variables, this paper argues that adding a new emphasis on academic success and cognitive skills will enhance the DSP program. Includes 3 tables and 20 references.…

School-based management (SBM) is a strategy to decentralize decision-making authority to the individual school site. This document describes the principles of SBM, of which devolution of authority is the fundamental concept. Local control and shared decision-making are manifested in five educational operations: goals, budget, personnel, curriculum…

States should take an active and direct role in education reform: supporting school reform efforts, providing technical assistance, defining and controlling educational content, and assessing the outcomes of education. (MLF)

This paper reports on findings of a research study on the district-level control of principals in 12 effective school districts in California. Primary research objectives were (1) to expand knowledge on the nature of administrative control, (2) to develop a better understanding of the processes and activities in effective school districts, and (3)…

Focusing on the call for changes in school administration, this document reviews the nature of the educational reform movement in the 1980s before describing four trends that have fueled reform proposals. Trends described include general conditions such as the larger reform debate and the new conceptions of the appropriate organizational structure…