A discussion of the dilemma of desegregation/resegregation requires discussion of the demands of a changing urban society, open housing, efficient mass transit systems, the court rulings which too often have become substitutes for our own decisions and initiatives but which have set out steps in the right direction, and what we can do about it. A…

The charter school movement dates from the late 1980s and became a popular education reform tool in the 1990s. Some 3,000 charter schools exist today. Charter advocates made a number of claims regarding how charter schools would improve education. The charter, or contract, would free the school of many state and local district rules and…

The charter school movement dates from the late 1980s and became a popular education reform tool in the 1990s. Some 3,000 charter schools exist today. Charter advocates made a number of claims regarding how charter schools would improve education. The charter, or contract, would free the school of many state and local district rules and…

The Longitudinal Evaluation of School Change and Performance followed the progress of students in high-poverty schools as they moved from third to fifth grade, investigating the impact on student achievement of specific classroom practices fostered by school-, district-, and state-level policies. This analysis, conducted between 1996-99 as part of…

The Longitudinal Evaluation of School Change and Performance (LESCP) analyses were organized around policies embodied in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This study measured changes in student performance in seventy-one high-poverty schools, which included many schools that had implemented standards-based reform policies. The…

This new edition of the sourcebook is intended to be a reference on the historical backgrounds, current status, and emerging patterns of state higher education structures, specifically state coordinating and governing boards. An introductory essay by Aims C. McGuinness Jr. is titled "The Functions and Evolution of State Coordination and Governance…

This paper begins with a history of the tumultuous beginning of Arkansas's two-year college system. The system has gone through three major eras with the third, and current, era beginning in 1991. As a result of commissions sponsored by local businesses and the Carnegie Foundation in 1991, legislation was passed to convert 13 of the 24 vocational…

The long economic boom enabled school districts nationwide to fund expensive reforms and hefty pay raises. Now, however, they are finding it nearly impossible to cut costs and balance their budgets. The specific path to financial distress is unique in each case. Any number of factors, from excessively generous concessions at the bargaining table…

This case involves overturning a 35-year-old program of weighted grading that defined a school's identity. Examination of the practice revealed a curriculum that was discriminatory toward students and teachers with deep-seated values and beliefs among an elite group of core teachers perpetuating that discrimination. Further examination revealed…

As traditionally structured, American schools, in general, have found it more difficult to educate some students than others. In Washington State, as in most other states, the single best predictor of student achievement at the school level is the percentage of students on free or reduced (f/r) lunch status (Abbott & Joireman, 2001). This fact…

This newsletter addresses educational reform related to student use of computers and the development of computer networks in Illinois schools. This educational trend is particularly relevant for improving the educational opportunities of rural students. Both the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Planning Coalition for Educational…

This report summarizes the evaluation of a rural school district in Pennsylvania and offers recommendations reflecting the district's goals for school improvement and construction. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to identify curricular needs of the district and individual schools; review and assess district facilities with respect…

This paper examines how the Melrose-Mindoro School District, a rural school district in Wisconsin, implemented curriculum reform. Current national reform agendas focus on the organization of student learning experiences, the roles teachers assume in schools, and the organization and management of schools. Equally important in implementing change…

To clarify the role of collective bargaining in defining and reforming local school district staffing policies, an analysis was made of 144 teacher contracts gathered from a stratified, random sample of districts. In five of these districts, selected for their diversity on a number of variables (state, region, size, labor history, contract, and…

Replication of the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) in Ontario, Canada, is described and assessed. The curriculum and testing program covers numerical methods, geometry, and algebra. Whereas classical studies focused on mean scores of a system's students and on percentages of teachers for opportunity to learn (OTL), SIMS aggregates…