This publication is a collection of eight articles concerned with the open education movement in the United States. The articles include "The Concept of Openness: An Introduction," by Vincent Rogers and Bud Church; "Open Education and American Values: A Tentative Exploration," by Bud Church; "A British View of Open Education in the U.S.," by…

While the call to restructure schools represents the latest quest for reform and improvement in American public education, efforts to improve have always been ongoing in many schools and districts. The eight elementary schools described in this book have been engaged in the processes of improvement for many years. A major theme that emerges from…

This study examines the leadership and management skills needed to improve urban high schools. Information was drawn from a national survey of 178 urban high school principals whose schools had been conducting serious improvement efforts for up to 4 years and in-depth case studies of five large high schools in the following urban areas: (1)…

Five models of organizational decision-making are described, and a case study of the rational model as seen in the budget process at Stanford University during the 1970s is presented. Several issues are addressed to help administrators who are interested in increasing the organization's rational decision-making. The five models are as follows: the…

This book provides an account of the major administrative restructuring and organization that has occurred in Australian public school systems over the past decade. Section 1 provides a discussion of the Australian restructuring efforts in an international context. Chapters in this section include the following: (1) "The Restructuring of…

The idea that changes in school organization can improve teaching and enhance learning has heavily influenced educational reform over the past decade. With a goal of enabling teachers to promote students' construction of knowledge--so-called "constructivist" teaching--school restructuring has tended to focus on changing: (1) how schools group…

This study uses Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital to understand varying levels of parent participation in schooling. Bourdieu argues that schools draw unevenly on the social and cultural resources of members of the society by invoking particular linguistic styles, authority patterns, and types of curricula. The cultural properties…

This study examines three veteran urban school superintendents who were highly respected by their colleagues but who came under intense pressure from forces outside the school systems in the 1960's. Chapter 1 explores the context of the desegregation controversy and the furor over an independent evaluation that faced Benjamin C. Willis in Chicago.…

Do academic departments promote scholarship, protect higher learning from stagnation and interference, and provide a sound basis for hiring and advancing faculty? Or do they stifle teaching and research, foster parochialism, and limit the development of professors and students? There exist operating alternatives to conventional departments. Those…

This book focuses on the process of implementing an alternative school within a public urban system. To identify and illustrate the problems inherent in organizing and operating an alternative school the West Philadelphia Community Free School was taken as a case study. Observations and analysis are here offered on two different levels: (1)…

This book opens with a discussion of the impact of education in reducing inequality--educational, socioeconomic, and otherwise. The topic of public policy and education is explored, and the work of Christopher Jencks and his associates, published in late 1972 as "Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effect of Family and Schooling in America," is…

During the past two decades federal, state, and local school leaders have attempted to institute major changes in educational programs and organizational arrangements. Recent assessment studies reveal that the great majority of change efforts did not meet intended objectives. As a result, policy formulators have developed serious reservations…

The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation Studies on innovation have tried to evaluate what is happening in different member countries to achieve a balance between organized processes for change and free initiative of the individual school or teacher, and to establish effective institutions in the different national circumstances. The aim…

This book describes two different strategies of organization development consultation and analyzes their application in six elementary schools that were attempting to adopt differentiated staffing and multiunit structure. In two schools, the entire staff received a week or organization development consultation before attempting any structural…

The aim of the pamphlet is to consider, against the background of the school as a whole and the community which it serves, the academic and pastoral needs of 14- to 16-year-old pupils and the curricular opportunities provided to meet them. Two case studies of relatively large secondary schools are presented because many teachers are working for…