An Illinois school district decided, on an experimental basis, to drop junior high schools and go back to a K-8 organization. In the first year of a three-year experiment, average student learning growth in all subjects was 11 months at the K-7 buildings compared to six months at the junior high school. (MLF)

Three-dimensional model building can help superintendents understand and monitor alternative perceptions of the school organization. Using simple models to depict district leadership or supervision plans (using nails in a board or other simple materials) can bring tangible meaning to abstract visions. (MLH)

Four top corporate executives were invited to help school executives formulate the shape of future school/business partnerships and to name the single most meaningful educational change needed. Most emphasized business's supportive role in shaking up a failing system, turning around the nation's worst schools, and developing a competent labor…

In this article, the author offers his views on downsizing the public schools in the US. To be efficient, American industries are redesigning themselves to stay competitive. Likewise, America's public schools are being prompted to do the same. The author contends that downsizing public schools may only cause adverse impact. Since education is…

Identifies 10 educational restructuring components: setting a clear school mission; reorganizing the school to fit the mission, realigning curriculum, instruction, and assessment; enhancing the teaching profession; building collaborative relationships; initiating school-centered decision making; increasing parent and community involvement;…

W. Edwards Deming's concepts offer an integrated approach to quality schooling. Three barriers must be overcome: fear of industrial models, poor knowledge of workers and work processes, and unquestioned beliefs. Instead, educators must develop community understanding and commitment, establish business-education partnerships, and manage schools as…

Orange Grove Middle School in Tucson, Arizona, is part of a movement to transform schools into learning organizations. Systems thinking, combined with the related disciplines of building a shared vision, working with mental models, team learning, and personal mastery, is the essential component. The key to effective leadership is harnessing the…

Reviews research principles underlying site-based school management, including the National Committee for Citizens in Education's parameters. Outlines a Missouri school district's approach to site management, highlighting establishment of guidelines, team training, financial support, flexible staffing, and sense of ownership. (MLH)

Views school reorganization as best achieved through school-based management, featuring transformational leaders, school effectiveness teams, school strategic plans, school-site budgeting, and school performance reports. Describes a Dallas County (Texas) district's efforts to create a mission, review organizational structure, and adopt strategic…

Professional educators may be behind the times in their thinking about school size. Many educational leaders mistakenly believe that large schools provide better learning environments at less cost than smaller schools. Actually, there are few conclusive before-and-after consolidation studies, consolidation does not seem to save money, and small…

Organizational transformation, rather than improvement, is fast becoming the focus as dynamic and energetic leaders open new frontiers in work life and productivity. Schools can move beyond tinkering with structures and processes by creating a vision of school greatness. Florida's and Minnesota's experiments with professional partnerships are…

School boards should focus on knowledge, skills, and attitudes students need to function in tomorrow's world, instead of determining what education programs the community wants and can afford. Results-oriented evaluation is a house of sand, because students come from varied backgrounds and most results are caused by the system originating them.…

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…

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…

Community involvement, union participation, and school leadership are behind the Rochester, New York, school reform. Measures include school-based planning committees, a reorganized salary schedule offering professional wages to attract and hold the best candidates, and a career ladder for teachers. (MLF)