School leaders are often placed on the "hot seat" when negative images of the school, its staff, or its students appear in the local media. Such reports can strongly affect a school's public and image and, in turn, impact the climate both in the community and within the school itself. Sometimes these perceptions are not based on fact; however,…

Teachers are facing an increasing number of changes in their job context, many of which significantly affect their work lives. This study offers a theoretical understanding of the changes in teachers' working conditions, starting from the intensification thesis. The case study of a Flemish (Belgian) elementary school shows the existence of various…

Outcomes based education (OBE), which emphasises a radical reinterpretation of the enterprise of education, is a phenomenon enveloping the Australian compulsory education sector. This paper examines the theoretical tenets of OBE as articulated by its chief exponent, William Spady. It then explores the effects that OBE implementation is having on…

While reform options such as creating new schools seem tempting, they challenge the ills of public schools with new school creation under the same system. Of interest are the lessons that can be gleaned from teachers at a new small school that serves a Black American population. A theory on declining institutions was used to explore teachers'…

In recent decades modern educational organisations have become heavily influenced by new management theories and their new ways of organising staff in teams. This trend started in private organisations with a new organisational agenda but has migrated to public organisations with the introduction of new public management (NPM) in state and…

Governor Easley of North Carolina has made a sustained commitment to listening to educators and reforming schools to create the working conditions necessary for student and teacher success. With three iterations of the working conditions survey and about 150,000 responses to critical questions about their workplace, analyses have been consistent…

Studying one's profession, especially when done in community with others, where the learning is richer and deeper, has not been the norm in the education community. Educators typically have been physically isolated from each other because of the structure of school facilities and the schedules that dominate the school day. This physical isolation…

The goal of No Child Left Behind appears admirable: by 2014 every child in the nation will test to proficiency in core math and literacy skills. However, as we investigate what schools need to reach these goals, we expose what teachers have long experienced one arduous day at a time: our school system is based on a 19th-century factory model that…

Not since the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite spurred the federal government to begin investing in science and mathematics education through the National Defense Education Act have these two areas of the school curriculum been so high on state and federal policy agendas. Policy makers, business leaders, educators, and the media again worry…

This article provides a summary of the five major recommendations from the nation's highly accomplished teachers on the problems in staffing high-needs schools. Insights from these teachers reveal that salary incentives alone will not suffice to attract and retain good teachers for high-needs schools. Working conditions matter--most notably,…

Summarizes the Carnegie Foundation president's September 1987 speech concerning this generations's most urgent task--rebuilding the nation's schools. Warns that today's teachers may have gained in competency and responsibility, but not in empowerment to shape curricula, plan inservice programs, or shape student retention and special education…

The most significant development in education since World War II has been the growing professionalization of teachers and teaching. This article traces this development from the original bureaucratic supervision model through the 1970s "advocacy revolution" to the recent push for full empowerment. Pioneering efforts in selected districts…

The poor results of our educational system are a function of a bureaucratic, hierarchical, and factory-like structure of schooling whose organization and assumptions limit ways of teaching and learning. An innovative German model of schooling is described. "Charter schools," initiated by individual schools or small groups of teachers,…

Interviewed teachers from 17 California charter schools to examine their attitudes toward charter school reform. Results indicated that their professional lives were profoundly influenced by both local and larger contexts for teaching. Locally, they liked teaching at small schools with like-minded professionals. However, their relationships to…

A study of two elementary schools identified school conditions affecting implementation of Kentucky state reforms of primary education: innovation advocates, teacher-relevant implementation strategies, and supportive principals. Essential elements were a fit between leadership style and faculty needs and time to develop collaborative working…