The Effective Schools Program in St. Louis, Missouri, public schools expanded the concept of effective schools developed in Project SHAL (1980-1984). The following five characteristics are considered effective school factors: (1) strong administrative leadership (2) high teacher expectations; (3) positive school climate; (4) total school…

This literature review concerns the concept of alternative grade configurations at the elementary level, in which elementary schools are subdivided into primary (K-2) and intermediate (3-5) units. Because of the paucity of literature on this concept, the major part of the report focuses on the reorganization of the elementary schools of the South…

The Urban Education Studies focuses its efforts on the study of promising educational programs in urban school districts. Experience has confirmed the basic assumption that many programs and strategies of demonstrated or potential excellence are to be found in the urban setting. The generalizations gleaned from the data and on-site visits…

By redeploying staff members and students so that teachers can concentrate on teaching students rather than "covering" classes, American high schools can reduce class size and foster a more productive learning environment. The "Copernican" reorganization plan features macroscheduling, individualized instruction, accommodation…

The Carnegie structure, involving seven-period days and nine different locations daily, is an ineffective system. The Copernican plan changes school scheduling by lengthening instructional periods for fewer and smaller classes. The system should improve teacher-student relationships, lighten workloads, and introduce innovative evaluation and…

The rhetoric of current blueprints for (Australian) school reform must be scrutinized to ensure a power redistribution furthering improved outcomes for more students, particularly the least advantaged. A desirable social justice outcome might be achieved through blending equality aspects ensured by the old centralized system with the progressive…

Today's calls for school restructuring demand a greater response than piecemeal tinkering. The impetus for total organizational change started over 30 years ago in Japan as industrial leaders adapted W. Edwards Deming's beliefs and strategies concerning psychology, systems, perceptual theoretical frameworks, and causes of variation. Quality…

Explores possibilities for critical, resistance-based approaches to school leadership. Compares Marx's, Habermas's, Baudrillard's, and Foucault's views of human regulation, along with other individual/group theories. Assesses theories' utility for critical leadership in education. Individuals can resist oppressive school practices by pursuing…

Supports Linda Darling-Hammond's contention that many adolescent difficulties are not intrinsic, but stem from mismatches between teens' developmental needs and experiences provided by most secondary schools. A depersonalized, punitive, rote-learning ambience cannot meet adolescents' needs for affiliation, autonomy, and cognitive challenges.…

Neglect of divergent cultural values and belief systems; perennial debates about moral, ethical, and legal questions; power struggles; and technically oriented initiatives have thwarted school-reform efforts. Initiating frequent policy changes to accommodate fads overlooks the slowness of change and the learning process in complex social…

Using linear modeling, the Prospects dataset was employed to examine effects of instructional and school organizational characteristics on first- and third-graders' math and reading achievement. Results supported environmental and interactive instructional approaches, but not a coupling (coordination) approach. Collegiality, support for…

Four levels of authority within the educational decision-making structure in seven European countries and states for primary and lower secondary education are analyzed, and results are presented from a study of decision making. This study indicates a slightly higher degree of school autonomy in England/Wales, the Netherlands, and Sweden. (SLD)

Analyzes current and future directions of educational change in Quebec, highlighting major policy themes: governance and organization, teaching and learning, and human and financial resources. The necessary conditions for achieving intended reform goals may be lacking. Schools lack the capacity to engage in self-development without external…

This paper examines reasons why personnel policy and wage setting differ between traditional public, private, and charter schools and the effects of these policies on academic measures of teacher quality. Survey and administrative data suggest that the regulatory freedom, small size of wage-setting units, and a competitive market environment make…

Although current policy debate on school restructuring is centered on choice, empowerment, and professionalization issues, the effects of communally organized schools has received little attention. This paper postulates that student achievement, particularly in mathematics, is related to selected elements of communal schools (shared norms and…