Mayoral control and accountability is one of very few major education reforms that aim at governance coherence in this nation's highly fragmented urban school systems. A primary feature of mayoral governance is that it holds the office of the mayor accountable for school performance. As an institutional redesign, mayoral governance integrates…

Mayoral control of public schools is nothing new. Boston pioneered the practice in 1992, replacing elected school committee members with mayoral appointees. Since then, a dozen urban districts--including Cleveland, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.--have undergone a similar change in school governance that has shifted some or most of…

Developing school leaders who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to effectively lead low-performing schools has become a critical goal for local school districts intent on dramatically improving student outcomes. Given the current criticism surrounding leadership preparation programs and the changing nature of school…

This article is the first of a series of occasional reports about the opportunities and challenges facing Hope High School, an urban public high school in Providence, Rhode Island, which is experiencing enormous change. It presents a story of a high school reform initiative in which the arts are cast as a central element in a journey of renewal.…

As the demographics of schools change, school leaders and teachers are challenged with meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population. Schools and classroom instruction must change in response to the community and students they serve. The latest research on secondary school reforms concludes that efforts to create a caring, responsive…

Discusses the importance of teacher development in achieving fundamental school change, and argues that such change occurs best when teachers collaborate to raise student achievement levels. The article provides an account of the frustrations and successes of teachers in a Rhode Island reform effort. (GR)

The Big Picture schools focus on a "one student at a time" model, which eschews subject based-internships, independent projects, and exhibitions of students' work. The company's goal is to help students acquire the motivation, skills, and personal qualities they will need for college and life. In 1996, Big Picture founder Dennis Littky…