This study explored complicated personal narratives of school reform generated by participants in response to a particular small schools reform initiative. Narrative data was dialogically generated in interviews with nine past participants of an urban high school conversion project planned and implemented over a span of five years toward the goal…

This article argues that comprehensive reorganisation was not a one-off policy reform but a complex, bottom-up campaign for equity and fairness in education, with varied consequences and outcomes. Recent battles over student fees, free schools and academies show that the quest for democratic education does not lead to a permanent achievement but…

High school redesign is one of the most elusive reform challenges to date. This paper explains why personalized high schools are hard to get and keep in a traditional school district, and shows how they can be made much more broadly available through changes in policy and philanthropic investments. Drawing from examples of successful and…

Small learning communities, an initiative to transform large struggling comprehensive high schools into smaller autonomous schools, are being empirically examined in the field of education to assess if transformation is actually occurring as seen by positive outcomes, such as increased academic achievement. There is an absence of literature on…

Efforts to improve student performance on high-stakes assessments in mathematics place teachers in the epicenter of multiple reform expectations. While studies have documented how teachers implement single reforms, very little is known about teachers' implementation processes when multiple expectations are imposed. With a focus on how…

For many English language learners, the endgame isn't passing state exams--it's attending and graduating from college. Yet schools often focus on a lower target: proficiency. To support the transition of English language learners to postsecondary success, schools should create formal transition plans, provide differentiated guidance, focus on…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceived implications that principal leadership has on transforming a large comprehensive high school into smaller learning communities (SLCs); and to speculate on possible factors that contribute to the change process after the implementation of SLCs. The study explores the roles,…

Interest in setting high educational standards is at the forefront of many school reform programs in the United States. States' pursuit of high standards can be advanced through implementation of programs such as High Schools That Work ("HSTW"), which emphasizes high expectations and rigorous academics for all students, including Career…

Many educational researchers have identified issues on classifying schools and some have made use of ad-hoc classification systems in their analyses; however, these solutions are generally one-dimensional, which prohibits them from capturing the full breadth of variation among schools. To understand the amount of variation that exist in schools…

The transition from middle school to high school represents a significant event in the lives of adolescents, one that necessitates support from and collaboration among teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators at both educational levels. Successful transitions place particular emphasis on ninth-grade initiatives and can create one of…

For more than a century, American educators and education policymakers have chosen sides in a great debate about the nature and function of American high schools. The origins of this long-running argument can be traced to 1893, when the influential Committee of Ten, a bluechip panel of educators, issued a report proposing that all public…