The Project for Minority Student Achievement (PMSA), a 5-year program funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is a program designed to engender systemic change within a segment of a large urban school district in the Los Angeles (California) Basin. Approximately 40% of the student participants were African American and approximately 60%…

This compilation brings together three previously published papers on the role of professional development in school restructuring. The three papers articulate a new paradigm for professional development in teaching which sees opportunities for teacher development residing in collegial work settings, team teaching environments, school improvement…

This paper discusses the preschool component of the Educational Agreement presented to the Portugal Parliament in May 1996 to improve the quality of the educational system. Among the 10 Action Commitments in the Agreement is the creation of a national network for preschool education. The context of the inclusion of preschool in this Agreement is…

Findings are reported from a study that investigated the influence of a two-year cooperative masters of education program as a vehicle for professional development and school renewal. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from 25 experienced teachers based in 3 secondary and 2 elementary professional development…

Design and implementation of a program to improve education for a culturally diverse middle school population in an economically disadvantaged area are described. The program involved cooperation of the University of Colorado-BUENO Center for Multicultural Education and a nearby school district. In the two participating middle schools, students…

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…

The planning, design, development, and implementation of a conference of Canadian German teachers to promote a collaborative, decentralized approach to professional development are described. The report begins with an overview of the professional development situation among German teachers in Canada. Particular focus is on efforts to make…

This paper describes a process that empowered special education teachers in Greenville Independent School District (Texas) to begin moving toward an inclusive model of special education. Specifically, the paper examines special education teachers' levels of concern regarding inclusion during this process. During the summer, 26 special education…

The National Education Goals were adopted by the nation's governors in 1990. The March 1994 enactment of the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" made the National Education Goals federal policy and the guiding principles for a fundamental restructuring of the public education system. These goals have created a climate of education reform…

The Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Collaborative School Improvement Program was established in 1978 within the College of Education's Office of Collaborative Education. The program assists local district personnel with school improvement and staff development activities through training teachers, administrators, board members, and other staff…

This directory includes profiles on 80 individual professional development schools (PDSs) in 19 states; the profiles outline program characteristics and provide location and contact information. The data on each school were gathered by a survey conducted by the Clinical Schools Clearinghouse beginning in the fall of 1991. Findings from the survey…

In 1990, the South Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and School Leadership was established by the state's legislature to provide support to schools undergoing or planning restructuring. The Center assists schools to analyze needs, establish goals, and implement those goals. Technical assistance and college and school faculty training…

This paper traces the reorganization of Japanese colleges and faculties of education in response to the educational reform movement. This response includes establishment of graduate programs of teacher education and curricular changes to improve teacher competence. The first section of the paper outlines the evolution of public policy aimed at…

A study was conducted to examine the perspective of planned change as a conscious, deliberate effort to improve systematic operations and to explore assumptions implicit in theory and literature regarding readiness for change. Entry data were collected at orientation and planning workshops for 42 League of Professional Schools teams from Georgia…

This bibliographic essay and research review investigates four areas: (1) the characteristics of elementary writing instruction prior to the 80s; (2) the factors which changed writing instruction in the 80s; (3) the characteristics of elementary writing instruction in the 80s: and (4) the place of elementary and pre/in-service textbooks in the…