Successful outsourcing is a learning process demanding careful planning, commitment, and heavy communication. The process also requires a strong leadership and a cohesive school board ready to weather a cultural change. Service employee options, contractors' managerial expertise, increased efficiency, and partnership opportunities are possible…

Many new, enthusiastic superintendents with backgrounds in business, law, and the military apply a service mentality and a results orientation. Profiles of Alan Bersin, John Stanford, Harold Levy, John Fryer, Brian Benzel, and Paul Vallas illustrate nontraditional leaders' challenges and accomplishments in the nation's largest school districts.…

For years, schools have overlooked the training needs of trades and industry, focusing on preparing more students for college. Qualified carpenters, roofers, electricians, masons, and plumbers are in short supply. Schools must consider trades training, partnering with technical and community colleges, local builders, and factory owners to reduce…

The Internet's effects are spreading. Schools are purchasing computer programs, assisted by state, federal, and corporate grants. K-12 schools spent nearly $7 billion on instructional technology in 2000. The digital divide is narrowing; Generation I kids have greater computer access at home and at school. In a sidebar, Sandra Feldman urges…

A Tucson principal learned that denial and traditional administrative strategies cannot mitigate evolving gang activity. He recommends that school leaders use respect; provide relevant programs; establish a zero-tolerance policy for weapons, drugs, and violence; create parent patrols; keep video records; regulate attire; welcome police; support…

After hours of introducing team training, facilitation skills, and Total Quality Management tools, the old classroom practices of "chalk and talk" faded in Virginia Beach schools' technical and career education classes. Academic teachers also improved instruction, using innovative TQM tools such as nominal group voting, course mission…

American educators are participating in a harmful, unwinnable contest--the score-boosting game. Standardized tests yield an inaccurate picture of school staff's instructional practices. Administrators should provide assessment-literacy training, brief educational policymakers, encourage autonomous parent groups, analyze test items, and create…

The creator of the Policy Governance model explains a system whereby the superintendent/CEO is not responsible for governance. Under Policy Governance, the board is solely responsible for describing and fulfilling its own job (determining what the public purchases for the next generation), and the administrators run the schools. (MLH)

Making report cards more understandable and valuable to users is a top priority for educators revising them. Administrators should tie report cards to new standards and exams; be open-minded; involve parents, teachers, and schools; check with technology people; and strive for clarity. A Maryland district's experience is profiled. (MLH)

Public-school foundations are generally not expected to provide a substantial portion of their school district's budget. The most successful school foundations use fund raising to build bridges between schools and the community-particularly with nonparents and organizations with no direct connections with schools. Their support is indispensable.…

Features 2 of 12 exemplary math and science programs identified by educational groups. Washington School District, Phoenix, Arizona, improved student achievement in science by hands-on laboratory experience and creative staff use. Manchester, Connecticut, elementary students raised mathematics scores thorough an activities-based curriculum with…

Solid research evidence links smaller schools to fewer discipline problems, lower dropout rates, higher student participation levels, and steadier academic progress. Large buildings are no obstacle. Creating small schools requires top administrators to lend impetus and support, facilitate teacher volunteer groups, develop clear policies, adjust…

The author of "Risky Business: Private Management of Public Schools" examines privatization efforts by Educational Alternatives Inc. and the Edison Project. Privatization actually represents two different interests: a conservative ideological crusade and a nonpartisan exercise in pursuing good government. Most arrangements have not…

An authority on student assessment says the ability of public schools to meet federal expectations will depend on the instructional sensitivity of the tests in use. Offers a six-step blueprint for carrying out a public-information campaign about NCLB tests. Lists websites for two reports by five national education associations on instructionally…

The fundamental causes of poor academic performance are not the schools themselves but the institutions governing them. Bureaucracy imposed by democratic principles vitiates the most basic requirements of effective organization. State governments must create a new public education system based on the market principles of parental choice and school…