This paper argues that the "old paradigm" in education is a collection of assumptions, beliefs, and values that underlie the workings of present-day schools. The old paradigm is based on the notion of education as a meritocratic enterprise, institutional rationality, the positivist approach to truth, commitment to efficiency, and…

This paper describes the Accelerated Schools Project, which was begun at Stanford University in 1986 to improve schools for children caught in at-risk situations. The first sections describe the present deficiencies of schools serving at-risk students and the limitations of general reform proposals for educating at-risk youth. The Accelerated…

This document defines curriculum reform in Romania as the elaboration and progressive setting up of a new educational paradigm unaltered by the outlooks and consequences of the Communist era. Although the strategic and technical aspects of implementing the new reality are still at the stage of advanced working hypotheses, the essential objective…

The purpose of education should not be to fill students with objective knowledge but to develop in students the ability to process information in ways that enhance understanding, according to the process model of curriculum development proposed by Lawrence Stenhouse. Defining education thus does not allow for the establishment of fixed educational…

Cooperative efforts, educational objectives, educational planning, school organization, and administrative organization are important in achieving unity within a school's vocational agriculture program. (EA)

The organizational characteristics of schools can be extremely important influences on student behavior, and student behavior problems can be reduced through organizational change. Organizations can be held to consist of objectives, processes for achieving those objectives, and structures for carrying out those processes. The term…

A nationwide study of 20 outstanding student services programs examined the techniques and features of positive, progressive, and innovative programs in small and large school systems. Reviews and previews of pupil services indicate the broadening of school programs into community service and preventative mental health programs. Personnel in…

The principal concept of the Curriculum of Attainments (COA) is that college degrees are awarded on the basis of demonstrated competencies without regard to the amount of time required to attain them. The method of curriculum reform advocated in the COA project is the establishment and expansion of small pilot programs within existing departmental…

This paper addresses briefly the responsibilities which site-based decision-making (S-B D-M) imply and presents the many opportunities to innovate collaboratively as a way to achieve greater professionalism. Texas' Senate Bill 1 (199) and House Bill 2885 (1991) set into motion two important aspects of educational reform, the decentralization of…

This article concurs with a critique in the OECD Report that Canadian education is organized along industrial lines and that this organization is for the purpose of achieving academic goals. Major criticism is aimed at the "over academization" of the schools and the influence of this on society. (Author/SJL)

A discussion with 10 nationally recognized education reformers is summarized in this report. A goal of the discussion was to find common ways to fundamentally alter the American educational structure. Participants' statements are organized around six central themes, which form a paradigm for effective school restructuring. Sections address each of…

This issue of "Mini-School News" deals with the first 12 steps involved in starting a minischool. The first and most critical step is to clearly identify the problems that make reform seem necessary. The question then becomes one of identifying the possible solutions and sources of information about them. Then the data must be evaluated from a…

The educational boom of the past two decades, prospects for the next 10 years, and the complex of policy issues facing member countries of the OECD are surveyed in this report. Topics discussed include record enrollments, educational efficiency, dropouts and the school-leaving age, new secondary school structures, implications for higher education…

The institutional features of the American high school reflect its role as the custodian of adolescents, who lack any status in society beyond that of student. These features conflict with the school's educative aim of adolescent self-development; curricular and organizational reforms are needed to correct this dichotomy. (SJL)