Serious re-examination of participatory traditions of democracy is long overdue. Iconically central to such traditions of democratic education is the practice of whole School Meetings. More usually associated with radical work within the private sector, School Meetings are here explored in detail through two examples from publicly funded…

Seemingly endless tinkering and adjustment of the structure of education in the United States over the past century have led to the adoption of different school forms (grouping particular grades into separate schools) at different times. These different school forms necessitate transitions between schools (e.g., from a middle school to a high…

To understand schools from insiders' perspectives, this study shadowed 19 high school students and 8 teachers in all of their classes for two weeks. Given schools' problematic features (structural fragmentation, teacher isolation, emphasis on intrinsic rewards, and school-relevant learning) and teachers' weak sense of school ownership, the article…

This book is designed to inform the educational community about the empirical foundations of productive high schools. Part 1 focuses on the core technology (learning and teaching), the organizational systems in which the core function are nested (the ecology of the institution), and the institutional linkages between the school and its…

Providing humane high school environment requires some philosophical and psychological foundations. Fundamental is the belief in circumstances that permit persons to grow and change at their own pace, but under sensitive and rational guidance. (Editor)

The author visited Japan's secondary schools and here reports on the lessons to be learned from the way the country has organized its comprehensive school system. (RK)

This paper explores how high schools, through their structures and organizations, may influence their students' decisions about whether to stay in school until graduation or drop out. Traditional explanations for dropout behavior have focused on individual students' social background and academic behaviors. What high schools do to push out or hold…

Familiar high school problems include unprepared and apathetic students, inadequate teachers' salaries and benefits, and outmoded grade-level systems. Improvement requires new schooling models including clearer goals, advancement linked to skills mastery, promotion of thinking skills, less fragmented school time, elimination of age-grading, less…

The functions of a coordinator in an inner-city high school renewal project are described and their effectiveness evaluated. (JD)

A learning team comprises two or more teachers of any two or more subject areas who seek to create a small, cohesive learning community. Interdisciplinary learning teams are vehicles that can empower school community members. This first part of this handbook introduces the learning team concept, discusses issues to consider in implementing…

Author visits a school which, after ten years as a comprehensive, can boast academic results comparable to the grammar school formerly on the same site. (Editor)

This paper explores the deep-reform efforts of 9 secondary schools over a 3-year period. The reforms occurred in an Ontario, Canada, school district that empowered their secondary schools to develop site-specific organizational structures that deviated from the traditional subject, departmental structure. The sample for the study included all…

High-performing schools, it is noted, share an organizational culture in which administrators, staff, and students agree on a common purpose for educational outcomes and undertake cooperative team efforts to reach these goals. A Virginia high school transformed its culture by providing comprehensive professional development and teacher-leadership…

Attitudes, as measured by the College Student Questionnaire (CSQ), of the members of a college freshman class grouped according to high school backgrounds were studied. Various high school backgrounds, private and public were included. It was hypothesized that: (1) members of the four intraclass groups would have different attitude patterns as a…

Presents a field study focused on the work associated with the assistant school principalship in large high schools. Describes the assistant principals' role as one of maintaining discipline through organizational values and stability. Provides a theoretical model for understanding the relationship between the assistant's role and the school…