Proposes a conceptual framework based on research on planned organizational change, which can help groups within the school community identify inequity and create alternative organization patterns. Emphasizes critical issues, sub-groups within the school community, and problem-specific tasks. (FMW)

Analyzes and compares research on the Effective Schools Movement and the New York (New York) City School Improvement Project. Proposes a synthesis of the two traditions that can be used to implement equity-based educational innovations. (FMW)

Higher education structures need to be redesigned to make them more responsive to the public's demand for more attention to teaching and learning and the reality of limited financial resources. The enterprise model can serve as a 21st century paradigm, with three new "tools": (1) customer influence on delivery of services; (2) accountability…

Teacher education programs rarely help teachers develop those attitudes and skills that will enable them to identify and speak out for that which they know and value. This research reports on a preservice program based on the assumption that by systematically requiring teachers both to reflect on their own practice and to seek out and respond to…

This speech addresses the issues related to the education of Hispanic females. For Hispanic females, school failure has meant the perpetuation of poverty, the paucity of role models and mentors for the next generation, and the perpetuation of limited and stereotypic places for them in society. Based on relevant research, an examination of…

Poor educational performance and the changing nature of work and workers have prompted calls for a major restructuring of American schools. The following broad categories of restructuring options are discussed and supporting research is reviewed: (1) decentralizing authority over schooling through school-based management, more professional…

Parental choice is seen as a promising approach to school improvement. This report supports choice by suggesting answers to the following questions that reformers might ask: (1) is school performance poor enough to justify wholesale change? (2) what have schools done about troubling trends in student performance? (3) what do other researchers say…

This report provides an overview of primary education in Norway. Discussion focuses on: (1) provisions relating to compulsory basic education and characteristics of the school system; (2) local education authority; (3) regional authority; (4) national authority; (5) organization of the schools; (6) curriculum guidelines and the model plan for…

This paper deals with the impact of recommendations in the Carnegie report ("A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century") on administration in schools. The Carnegie report gives a bold new outline for improving teachers' roles in the schools by greatly strengthening their decision-making role and advocating a much more…

Although most attempts to effect school reform have been initiated from the top down, an alternative paradigm of educational reform has emerged: the idea that educators in schools must become empowered agents in their own school improvement processes. This paper explores this new paradigm, arguing that schools are both the objects and arenas of…

A model is proposed for enhancing family choice in public education; unlike many previous voucher plans, it would build on current trends in educational administration. Following an introduction that reviews these trends--highlighting recent developments in California school finance--two central assumptions are stated: that regulated competition…

A number of educational changes and problems in Europe and North America are covered in this six-chapter report. The introduction profiles present trends in all countries, including declining birth rates, economic stagnation, decreased enthusiasm for educational research and development, and more active community involvement in schooling. It notes…

The policy implications of proposed K-8 grade level reorganization in Providence, Rhode Island are explored in this report. Included are the following: (1) a survey of the current status of elementary and middle school organization, facilities, composition, and curriculum in Providence; (2) an assessment of achievement and social-psychological…

The purpose of this study was to apply a theory of latent culture to describe the role of middle class black parents and students in effecting change in an elite educational organization and to use Schein's conceptual model of the Kurk Lewin paradigm of the change process (Unfreezing--Changing--Refreezing) to analyze this process over a three year…

The first part of the document presents a collection of workable ideas, organized by topic, which were submitted by principals who used them to improve the programs in their schools. Some areas of interest covered include community involvement, student-choice electives, parent reporting, career education, and counseling and changing behavior. Also…