The study of people's social ties, the resources they obtain from them, and the communication tools--such as the Internet--that facilitate the flow of expertise and resources makes up an evolving science of networks that can help school leaders better understand how to support and promote school change. The science of networks is not new in…

"A Nation at Risk" sounded the call for school improvement and offered recommendations for bringing it about. "No Child Left Behind" was even more prescriptive in its approach to raising student achievement. However, as the author of this article points out, for all their recommendations and strategies, both reform efforts neglect the essential…

The national guidelines for school library media programs clearly establish that the goal of the school library media specialist is to provide an instructional program that helps students and faculty become efficient and effective users of information. Along with running the library at a technical level as the program administrator, the school…

Describes how veteran and beginning teachers work together in a mutually beneficial nurturing relationship. (PKP)

Staff at disadvantaged schools lacking sufficient technology must take matters into their own hands. Guerilla technology tactics include finding all the hidden technology on campus, scanning the school budget carefully, helping others spend their technology money, and scrounging free computers at universities and local businesses. (MLH)

Teachers' work with four National Science Foundation-funded curricula in the Missouri Middle-School Mathematics Project has disclosed 10 critical implementation elements: administrative support, opportunities for study, curriculum sampling, daily planning, interaction with experts, collaboration with colleagues, incorporation of new assessments,…

A six-year investigation of schoolwide action research shows that teachers were reluctant to collaborate outside their immediate grade or subject area and to open up their classrooms. Teachers relied on intuitive program-evaluation approaches and held differing definitions of action research. Schools making the most progress had the most technical…

Education reformers have increasingly invested in developing collaborative communities within schools as a central strategy for improving teaching and student learning. This strategy comes in various guises, including small schools, small learning communities, and teacher teams. Several assumptions about how these communities will enhance…

A national study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education indicates that school-based reform is no guarantee of improved learning opportunities. Schools with the most promising reform efforts set attainable reform goals with long timelines; focus explicitly on particular aspects of curriculum while targeting related professional development…

A project conducted by two university instructors and a group of Madison-area primary teachers attempted to improve at-risk students' early literacy capabilities. The Teachers Helping Teachers project helped participating teachers create their own small professional-development communities, emphasize children's strengths, and improve instruction.…

In 1973, the founding administrator of a Long Island high school proposed adoption of a student advisory system, team teaching in the humanities, and no academic department chairs. Convinced that having chairs diminished teachers' stature, this principal successfully encouraged teachers to work together to develop curriculum, prepare budgets, hire…

For six years, teachers in a study group at a Denver inner-city middle school have enjoyed intellectual stimulation, collegiality, and professional growth. In this article, the authors present the success of the endeavor as proof that teachers are more than happy to stretch themselves when they are given the opportunity to direct their own…

An obsolete, unworkable approach to achieving high standards is top-down dictation of goals and minimal staff compliance. A constructivist change strategy is based on collaboration. It is an action research and development process enabling everyone to understand the problem, reach agreement on goals, and share responsibility for implementing…

Since teachers have the most direct, sustained contact with students and considerable control over the teaching/learning climate, improving teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions is critical to enhancing student achievement. Professional development must also address schoolwide professional community and school program coherence. Two…

Lesson study, the dominant form of professional development for teachers in Japan, has spread rapidly in the U.S. since 1999. In this article, the authors discuss the growth and success of lesson study at Highlands Elementary School in California's San Mateo-Foster City School District and identify conditions needed for scale-up. They also discuss…