Examines change capacity within one restructuring Ontario school district, employing the notions of chaos theory and a living organization. Analyzed 5 years of longitudinal quantitative and qualitative data to understand effects of organizational change on the whole school. School leadership teams worked differently, depending on context.…

Although differences in the organization of public and private schools are a focus of school reform discussions, those differences are not well understood. Using data from a national sample of secondary schools in the 1990-91 Schools and Staffing Survey, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this report examined…

This publication contains a brief description of secondary education in Spain. It constitutes one part of a series entitled "Guide to Secondary Education in Europe," developed as part of a Council of Europe project. Chapter 1 presents a general overview of the Spanish education system, with a focus on secondary education. Chapter 2…

Data obtained in a 1977 survey of 10 percent of the secondary school principals in the United States were subjected to statistical regression analysis to determine the relative effects of two types of school centralization. "Fragmentary" centralization involves the imposition of central control over specified facets of education in a…

The report details the description, analysis, and understanding phase of a study to provide local and state educational planners with information that would enable them to compare and evaluate alternative forms of inter-school district cooperation as a means of providing rural students with access to quality vocational education. Chapter I…

This document contains the papers presented at a conference that addressed the paucity of research on the relationship between schooling and adolescent development. The first four papers with reaction/comment statements focus on the following topics: (1) distinguishing the appropriate responsibilities of schools to adolescent development; (2)…

Using information drawn from research studies, the literature, and personal experiences, selected physiological, cognitive, and affective differences among 10- to 15-year-old middle school science students are illustrated. A rationale is presented for K-12 school organization based on human brain growth studies, with particular emphasis on middle…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter, by utilizing ethnographic data, develops an understanding of the interrelationships among administrative styles, deterrence, commitment, and disruption. The effect of change in administrative styles on the character of order and disruption in a desegregated…

This paper explores whether or not an effort to centralize the administration of several metropolitan Catholic high schools for the purpose of economy of resources would produce an unanticipated consequence that would severely offset any savings. The research suggests that Catholic parents perceive a difference among these schools in terms of…

With Circular H.S.1 1972/73, the Ministry of Education directed Ontario's secondary schools to provide an increased range of course offerings and to allow students as much freedom as possible to choose their own courses. To identify the effects of the individualized "credit system" established by this controversial circular, a number of…

Attendance in "open" versus "traditional" schools is shown to have small positive effects on student satisfaction with school life and student self-reliance, while differences in family authority structures are found to be of much more importance for these outcomes when student social class characteristics are statistically controlled. Two…

With widespread reform of the English grammar and public schools imminent, the development of new structures within the "common" or "comprehensive" schools to assure the continuation of classics and Latin studies is suggested in this booklet. Current educational trends are clarified in articles on: (1) the present situation,…

The organization of education in Austria, 1971-1973, is briefly presented in a pamphlet of six sections. The content dealing with historical background ranges from medieval monastery schools through 19th century reforms. A few basic statistics on the country and population are noted. Legal foundations, describing the organization and structure of…

A model program of pupil services for Chicago's inner-city high schools is proposed. It is based on the house plan of school organization, wherein a large comprehensive high school is divided into small sub-divisions called houses. The deficiencies and unmet goals of Chicago's inner-city high schools (e.g., low attendance, high dropout rate) are…

The Louisville Public School District is probably the only large public school district which has systematically begun change on a "systems" basis. Top school officials first made a wide-ranging assessment of the most pressing problems in the district, developed and stated their premises, and then planned two programs. The primary…