Explores relationship between teacher perceptions of structural coupling in their schools and their perceptions of school robustness and effectiveness in study of 79 participating schools. Results suggested that teacher perceptions of relatively tight coupling of goal direction and work supervision structures and relatively loose coupling of…

Aims to apply structural, human resource, political, and cultural perspectives to review and analyze the case of Hong Kong in implementing school-based management. Hopes this analysis can provide a useful illustration of applying multi-perspectives to support development of school-based management and draw useful implications for school reforms in…

From time to time critics of the middle level publish works that suggest that our philosophy is too much "feeling good" and not enough academic substance. Confusing this debate is the current trend of districts (especially large urban ones) to reconfigure their schools to K-8 neighborhood schools. In this article the author takes a long look at…

The Governor's Institutes of Vermont are summer programs for Vermont high school students. The students are chosen for their strong personal motivation and interest in art, science and technology, and international affairs. Coordinated with the Institutes, the Lead Learner program is designed to enhance teacher and school efforts in restructuring.…

As the decade of the 1990s began, there was uncertainty concerning the educational reforms attempted in the 1980s. This paper focuses on how deregulated schools in South Carolina reacted to the opportunity to create new programs to meet the needs of the community and students. Research indicates there is an improvement in the teachers' working…

Restructuring is a reorganization that replaces central planning, control, and supervision with a deregulated, decentralized system in which the "bottom line" counts most. Seven explanations for restructuring are outlined, each reflecting a particular position or perspective : (1) a crisis in legitimization involving the dimensions of the…

A school improvement effort that provided individually tailored reports on school effectiveness to 93 schools across the Commonwealth of Kentucky is analyzed. Dilemmas confronted by the individualized school reports explain why so little change was generated. The background for the research project from which the individual school reports were…

Given that the physical, emotional, and social metamorphosis of today's early adolescents differs chronologically from that of adolescents a century ago, school districts must identify the middle level school grade configuration that will best accommodate local student developmental needs. Educators must first identify the age at which local…

This article reviews synonyms for the concept of organizational effectiveness and criteria for measuring organizational effectiveness used in the literature and derives an eclectic taxonomy of organizational effectiveness variables. Application of the taxonomy to assessing the effectiveness of educational organizations is discussed and a checklist…

Presents information concerning the range of external interruptions experienced by junior high school teachers. Examines the ways in which interruptions become disruptions. Provides suggestions on how to manage these interruptions and discusses the difference between "proactive" and "reactive" class management. Finds that size…

Issues in restructuring education for meeting the needs of at-risk students are discussed in this paper. The six goals of restructuring are: (1) reduce the number of drop outs; (2) raise the level of achievement for all; (3) have business and education work together; (4) create schools which incorporate both social and educational services; (5)…

The first year of school reform in Chicago was devoted to preparation for governance and the election of local school councils to serve in each school. The second year of school reform was devoted to continued preparation for governance and attempts to restructure classroom instruction. The importance of restructuring education to match how…

Following a "dear colleagues" letter from John R. McKernan, Jr., Governor of Maine and 1991-92 chairman of the Education Commission of the States, a strategy is outlined that will help educational reformers to approach restructuring from varying perspectives and improve its chances for success. Several fundamental principles underlie…

Reviews research principles underlying site-based school management, including the National Committee for Citizens in Education's parameters. Outlines a Missouri school district's approach to site management, highlighting establishment of guidelines, team training, financial support, flexible staffing, and sense of ownership. (MLH)

British comprehensive schools have been criticized by the left for failing to provide equality for everyone and by the right for sacrificing academic standards for equality. Such simultaneous criticisms suggest that the schools have been assigned either impossible or contradictory objectives, but have managed to achieve a reasonable compromise.…