With the evidence that improved leadership in schools produces increased student learning and with the accountability demands of No Child Left Behind and the Missouri School Improvement Program, it is imperative that school leaders in Missouri be prepared to support student learning at its highest level. Therefore, Missouri has made a substantial…

Examines the external change forces in the environment and their resultant impact on the internal structure and activities of an organization designed to jointly develop uses of computers and data processing techniques to facilitate the administrative, instruction, and research activities of member school districts. (Author/IRT)

A survey of 145 schools found that all had experimented with innovative purchasing approaches. Many used electronic methods, such as credit-card, fast-track requisition (most popular), bidding and purchasing, and data interchange. Results suggest that nonelectronic innovations (just-in-time, cooperative, direct, and consortium leverage purchasing)…

Describes a cooperative arrangement among several school districts that permits the hiring of a full-time professional negotiator to handle collective bargaining agreements. (WD)

The KIDS Project links Mankato State University (Minnesota) with five rural school systems via interactive television. The program enables sharing and expansion of course offerings, teacher inservice opportunities, college classes for high school students, and other benefits normally out of reach for geographically isolated schools. (SK)

The Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project is a flexible consortium of researchers, educators, students, and parents who have worked collaboratively to create and study innovative learning environments since 1985. ACOT classrooms are true multimedia environments where students move from competitive work patterns toward collaborative ones. (10…

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Only the Best Web is addressing the information overload problem via an interactive knowledge website providing access to many ASCD electronic products and services, highly rated software, and other multimedia resources. Ultimately, schools will create their own websites and have access…

The electric utility industry is the last bastion of regulated monopolies in the United States. An overview of recent competition in the electric-power industry at both the federal and state levels and how this may affect school districts is offered in this article. The text identifies and evaluates how school districts can obtain cheaper power…

This report analyzes the contributions that the 10 Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia have made to U.S. efforts to reform mathematics and science education. The United States Congress authorized the Regional Consortia Program in 1990 under the Excellence in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education Program. In…

Describes activities of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC). Created in 1973, MECC provides instructional services, develops computer software, and is actively involved in training educators. Other organizations (institutional members) may pay a fixed fee to obtain annual right to duplicate and/or distribute MECC products to…

Networks, consortia, and coalitions among school districts are cost-effective means to provide staff development, improve instruction, and develop curriculum. This article summarizes results of two studies in Oregon that focused on cross-organizational collaboration for school improvement. Guidelines are provided for organizations and individuals…

The Learning Consortium provides the conditions for consortium partners to construct a more meaningful approach to instructional change through building on individual accomplishments, creating a broader view of the educational picture, sharing and interacting with wider audiences, and refocusing on the future. This article applies these conditions…

Demoralized by disappearing dollars and omission of the arts from national education goals, the arts education community has formed a consortium of professional organizations to write standards and address related issues, such as balance among the arts and multicultural and technological concerns. To anchor the arts firmly in the curriculum, they…

Describes the Central New York Education Consortium's efforts to develop university-school district partnerships and devise a positive approach to ethical instruction. The group identified essential "schools of character" aspects, such as clean, orderly environment, constant curriculum evaluation criteria, administrator role modeling,…

Results of a survey examining Missouri superintendents' perceptions of successful beginning principals, based on ratings on six Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards, were compared with another study rating unsuccessful Indiana principals by the same standards. School culture, instructional program, and management are essential…