This article describes accounts of grading reform initiatives that while well-intentioned, met with staunch opposition and eventually were abandoned. The implementation strategies employed by the leaders of these reform initiative are explored, along with reasons these strategies failed to result in meaningful and enduring change. Alternative…

This exploratory study uses data from 413 principals to examine whether and how competency-based education has been implemented in the Northeast states and the extent to which there is variation in implementation between states with different policies. Results suggest that competency-based practices that are most similar to current practices are…

This history examines the relationship between 21st century early college high schools and a longer tradition of adolescents attending college, uncovering powerful roots, distinctive breaks, and reforged alliances. Why did these schools, designed so students earn up to an associate's degree before graduation, come into being when and where they…

School change efforts to develop schools as learning communities result in schools that are constantly learning and thus changing. This collective case study of four schools involved in a 4-year reform effort begins to examine the ongoing sustainability of a learning community. The study draws insights about the sustainability of learning…

Before initiating change, an administrator should consider the effect the change will have on the school and the actual value of the change. (Author/IRT)

William Van Til's three proposed scenarios for the future of secondary education are examined 10 years later, and American education is found to have reached a critical point as it goes through a transition from one era to another. (DCS)

The evaluative processes used to judge the services of contemporary high schools need the involvement of a broader cross-section of educators and new insights. Scrutiny of the regional associations of the National Study of School Evaluation is also needed. (MD)

Administrative leadership is crucial to school improvement efforts, as shown by examples from 16 representative U.S. school districts. The best principals tailor reform to their schools, remain open to discovery, create an appropriate environment, develop comprehensive educational reform plans, promote staff development, relate well to the central…

As teachers again confront the inevitable excesses of academic formalism and overly narrow vocationalism, they should keep before them a larger vision of what education should be: the function of learning is to make each individual aware both of his own human potentialities and his common humanity with others. (Author/IRT)

The governor of Georgia outlines the Quality Basic Education Act that resulted from the recommendations from the Governor's Education Review Commission. (MD)

Presents a field-developed and tested method of comprehensive planning for program/project development. (Author)

The community is a source of support that the schools have overlooked for too long. Citizen participation in school decision making can lead a school into change. (Author/IRT)

Presents an outline of educational reform possibilities for administrators to be aware of and prepare for so they are not caught off guard in the current state and federal push for legislated educational reform. (MD)

A governor's involvement in education provides the power of a statewide partnership for educational improvement and is a proven method for gaining additional support for education. Educators should work at building communication and trust with governors and their staffs. (MD)