An examination of the technical and theoretical strengths and weaknesses of three British research studies on the effectiveness of selective and nonselective schooling shows that the reorganization of British schools has not produced the lowering of educational standards that politically motivated groups would like people to believe. (RM)

Educational researchers and policy analysts concur increasingly that the organizational design and culture of schools can either enhance or hinder the effectiveness of school reform efforts. This book offers a series of essays that may help parents, educators, and policymakers understand and solve school organizational problems that get in the way…

Many educators have been too quick to use traditional statistical data as measures of school effectiveness. Instead, educators should develop means of understanding and communicating to the public measures of social variables that operate in effective schools. (JW)

In 1987, the State of Maine encouraged schools to make fundamental organizational changes necessary to ensure that all children are successful in school. This booklet reports on the progress of 10 Maine schools that are wrestling with fundamental questions about the purpose, content, and organization of schooling. Each school is profiled with a…

School-based management (S/B/M) pilot projects, funded by the Washington State Legislature, were established to develop and strengthen the S/B/M concept to produce meaningful change. Bringing together recent educational research and modern business management theory, S/B/M operates on the assumptions that individual schools are the largest…

In this monograph, 13 authors offer their perspectives on the essential components of good schools. One interesting commonality is the tension expressed between institutional structure and personal values. Another issue that surfaces centers on the rising expectations of society for school achievement and the need for making learning more student…

This paper hypothesizes that both the structure and function of school systems are influenced by the following environmental factors: the institutional division of labor, the degree of homogeneity, the degree of stability, the degree of competition, and the amount and source of funding. Support for the hypotheses relies on open systems theory and…

Hispanic students who are learning and achieving well in certain kinds of schools are succeeding not because these schools have special policies for them but because the way the schools are organized helps to resolve some of the problems of Hispanics--problems that generally are not well understood. These organizational policies and Hispanic…

This paper examines transformational leadership, defined as follows: an influencing relationship between inspired, energetic leaders and followers who have a mutual commitment to a mission that includes a belief in empowering the members of an organization to effect lasting change. The article presents the results of a qualitative and quantitative…

Points out the potential in a neo-institutional perspective as applied to school organization. Sketches the theoretical foundations and current developments of sociological neo-institutionalism. Discusses the German school system and plans for school reform. Shows that from a neo-institutional perspective, school sector offers a variety of fields…

Describes a research project conducted in Kentucky that developed and tested the Kentucky Teacher Inventory, a set of teacher evaluation instruments that could be used to determine career path advancement and to examine teacher attitudes and use of that information as a means to promote school effectiveness. Effective knowledge utilization is…

Investigates how school organizational culture is related to important organizational characteristics and how the profiles of strong culture-effective schools differ from those of weak culture-inefficient schools, in terms of organizational variables, teachers' job attitudes, and school effectiveness criteria. The survey of 54 randomly sampled…

Current proclamations to reform schools with national examinations related to a national curriculum are a reflection of ignorance and destined to fail. We need to address educational improvement with seriousness and complexity and reconsider workplace structure, curriculum character, teaching practices, and the forms used to appraise our quality…

The recent movement to restructure schools has raised fundamental questions: Can changes in school structure improve student performance? Under what conditions might some structures be more effective than others? This document presents findings from Lee and Smith's study that examined the role of school restructuring on student performance.…

It is the school board alone that determines the quality of education provided within the school district. Without periodically examining its own performance, the board's capability to create a quality educational environment can be compromised. Evaluation is a control mechanism that allows the school board to make judgments about performance…