This dissertation includes three chapters on industrial organization and the economics of education, centered around New York City's public high school choice procedure. In the first chapter, I document evidence of informational frictions in the usage of the public high school choice in New York City and the patterns of racial disparities. The…

Public high schools today are faced with the challenge of preparing a diverse student population for both post-secondary education and entering the work force. However, they are doing so under the constraints of an educational structure that was developed years ago and one that has failed to adapt to the many changes in society. Schools are…

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…

A framework for urban public high school reform is presented for managing site-based change through re-envisioning, reculturation, restructuring, and remoralization. The four Rs for reform framework is elucidated through a qualitative study of a low-performing urban public high school that was transformed into a new more successful school. The…

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…

Seniors enrolled in private schools, whether Catholic or not, are significantly more likely to enter college and to enroll in four-year institutions than are public school students. Reasons for these differences are organizational policies, the orientations of the school staff, and the resources devoted to counseling and advising college-bound…

California's Partnership Academies tangibly reflect not just rhetorical involvement but meaningful direct private-sector participation in the education process. The Partnership Academies and their link to vocational education are compared with other programs like Adopt-a-School and the Boston Compact. The roots of the academy are traced to similar…

Gay youth enter high school with the knowledge that they are different and with the belief that heterosexuality is normal and that homosexuality is not normal. Also, gay youth enter high school with the belief that honesty and integrity are important personal values. Additionally, the gay youth enter high school without family knowledge of their…

Characteristics of private and public schools were compared in this study utilizing data collected in surveys by the National Institute of Education, the Council for American Private Education, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. The aims of the study were to provide a national picture of secondary education and increase…

If they are to be effective, organizations must acquire and create new knowledge in order to achieve their goals. Service organizations, such as schools, must employ the concept of organizational learning. Organizational learning is an intentional process directed at improving organizational effectiveness. The process involves four…

Meaningful school reform requires a deeper understanding of how high schools evolved to their current condition. This book presents an objective history of American public secondary education in two ways--as a social history and as a synthesis of literature. Chapter 1 offers a brief history of American education, beginning with the debate over…

This paper describes the organization and accomplishments of schools in New York City's East Harlem School Distirct, referred to locally as Community School District 4. Schools in this district use choice as the conceptual framework for the organization of public education. Once students and parents have been informed of the choices open to them,…

The American public education system seems to be resistant to curative measures. This book is a journalistic account of Cleveland Heights High School's unsuccessful struggle to achieve excellence and equity. The high school, located in a middle-class suburb of Cleveland, implemented the Model School Project in 1988 to address the persistent…

This review is a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of education in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government high schools, addressing basic questions and making recommendations concerning goals, school structure, provision of resources, curriculum, and educational outcomes. It is divided into 13 chapters covering…

Most American visitors to Japanese senior high schools have observed only the very best public academic schools in the nation. Two-thirds of Japanese students attend other schools. This book presents findings of a case study that focused on the 12th-grade experience in a Japanese public general high school. The data were supplemented by visits to…