This paper describes a Networked Improvement Community comprised of a network of 13 states focused on improving coherence and equity in state systems of science education. Grounded in principles of improvement science adapted from healthcare, we are developing and testing resources for formative assessment in science, with the aim of developing…

Over the past two decades, numerous textbooks have been published on teacher leadership; however, this is the only volume that provides a definitive overview of the scholarship and writing being done in the field of teacher leadership. This book introduces the reader to the scholarship of over 35 authors, and thus, becomes an essential tool needed…

In this essay, Huey-li Li inquires into how ecofeminist analyses of the woman-nature affinity call for the rectification of polarized conceptions of "nature." By attending to the interconnections between various forms of oppression, Li argues, ecofeminism sheds light on how gender ideology influences our worldview and the construction of…

The author had been a high school English teacher for 15 years when her district transformed two traditional high schools into 10 small schools of choice. In this article, the author shares how the staff of one small school, with the help of professional development and a true sense of empowerment, created a small school culture and aligned the…

This paper explores a distributed leadership perspective on how leaders create contexts that build and support professional communities in schools. It is argued that professional community results from intentional coordination of social interaction among teachers through the design of structures in a situation of practice. School leaders put these…

What happens when the rhetoric of school reform meets the realities of school change? In this book, a teacher offers a down-to-earth, very personal, often funny account of what life is like in a middle-class, suburban high school where teachers, students, and administrators struggle against school bureaucracy, inertia, and the difficulty of…

Ralph Parish and Frank Aquila's article in the same "Kappan" issue has admirable equity concerns but offers little advice for inner-city principals trying to convince their staffs that all children can and should learn at high levels. Getting more and more students to a solid competency level is a challenge that will involve expert teamwork and…

Summarizes results of a study conducted in several elementary schools to determine how extraordinary principals guide the educational change process. Principals' interview responses were categorized into four interactive domains: principals' roles, teachers' roles, the change process, and contextual factors. Findings affirm the key role of…

This paper offers reflections on various presentations at the March 1999 convention of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in San Francisco. The presentation, "Links between National Standards and Successful Classroom Strategies," is guided by two questions: (1) How are teachers, schools, and school districts promoting…

The literature urges business schools to change their undergraduate curricula in response to changes in the models and methods currently used by corporate America. Critics contend that business schools should place more emphasis on teamwork and integrative models. Business schools are urged to "break down the silos" between functional subjects by…

Internal reform in higher education management will require containment of excessive administrative growth, streamlining procedures, shifting focus from individuals to the organization, encouraging leadership, restructuring governing boards, eliminating duplicated effort, clarifying priorities, revamping the reward system, and creating…

The culture of an organization helps to determine the degree to which a new way of working is adopted and used. Team-based decision making in colleges and universities, as in other institutions, is more likely to be successful if organizational beliefs support the idea that change strengthens organizational goals. (Author/MSE)

For successful school reform, educators must think differently about the purpose of schools and educational delivery, and redesign infrastructures built on shared values and beliefs, multiple interacting linkages, and teamwork. School leaders are catalysts for change and, working with the school's power agents and modeling expected behaviors,…

A study was conducted at the Northern Arizona University to determine the necessary steps to improve the school's education programs. The basic conclusions of the study were: (1) Abolish the College of Education and replace it with the Center for Excellence in Education to facilitate interaction between the total university faculty, business and…

In "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization" (1990), Peter Senge shows how educators can achieve meaningful change and transform schools into self-renewing learning organizations. Organizations must develop five disciplines: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems…