This year's report focuses on efforts to redesign high schools. Those include incorporating student voice, implementing a rigorous and relevant curriculum, embracing career exploration, and more. The report also includes the latest statistics on the nation's overall, on-time high school graduation rate. Articles include: (1) To Build a Better High…

Recent attention to youth activism for school reform reveals positive student outcomes. Yet educators may object to the use of social actions in schools, diminishing opportunities for these benefits to accrue. This paper analyzes educators' conceptions about the proper exercise of student voice within schools and how these coincide with…

This article describes a professional development program that inspired some high school teachers to drastically reshape their teaching of chemistry toward a more learner-centered practice. Through interviews, they identified a freedom to explore and a sense of being trusted and respected as key aspects that supported this new approach. Rather…

National and state education reforms are centered on developing higher academic expectations and standards to ensure students transitions into postsecondary options, college and career ready. What does this national emphasis signify for urban school districts that are educating a significant proportion of first-generation students and that…

In today's reform context, much attention is placed on policies and outcomes and far less emphasis on understanding the social and cultural processes in schools. Using case-study methodology, I examine relationships between low-income, urban high school students of color, and the school adults with whom they interact. Using grounded theory,…

Weick's theory of sensemaking is used to analyze findings from a qualitative study of the implementation of a district-initiated adolescent intervention literacy course in two urban secondary schools. The authors concluded that implementation of the literacy course was hampered because district administrators, building leaders, teachers, and…

Two high school principals discuss why change in schools is necessary, what the ingredients of change are, who the enemies of change are, and how to begin the change process. (MT)

Describes how teachers might invite their students to become participants in the act of educational reform. Argues that school reform will ultimately fail unless students are encouraged to participate. (HB)

This paper is an ethnography of a high school mathematics department that has been struggling with curriculum change since 1977. A literature review of curriculum reform revealed four elements of mathematics reform: (1) a focus on students' complex thinking; (2) a change in locus of authority in the classroom; (3) a change in student roles; and…

Argues that recent studies on education have failed to recognize the dysfunctional structure of schools. Outlines change strategies suggested by Goodlad and Sizer, who advocate greater clarity of goals, more teacher autonomy, smaller schools or subunits within schools, and end to ability tracking, building-level improvement planning, and…

Presents goals desired for teachers and students for science education reform: positive attitude; creativity; effective communication; appreciation of the usefulness of science; active classrooms; science for everyone; innovative teaching; ability to ask questions; minds-on activities; student self-evaluation; and students see, students do. (MKR)

This paper discusses a study that examined the establishment of a new senior high school mathematics curriculum into schools in the State of Western Australia. Two aspects of change are discussed: (1) the extent to which the reconceptualization of the pedagogical approach to teaching mathematics encouraged in the reform was taken up by teachers,…

Employed an interpretive methodology to examine interrelations between teacher and student actions in a context of teaching and learning in a grade-11 chemistry class. Teacher and student goals, beliefs about teacher and learner roles, and constructions of the context were coherent to such an extent that there was little impetus for change. (24…

This final report of a conference on curriculum development within the ES '70 program is divided into three parts. The first part contains addresses concerning the comprehensive high school and the ES '70 program as a curriculum innovation. Three current trends--individualized instruction, changes in instructional theory, and changes in…

Kentucky high schools are attempting to address requirements of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). This study was conducted to collect and interpret data related to the implementation of high school restructuring and make recommendations. Thirty-three schools were invited to participate based on categories of restructuring,…