The daily demands on school principals require clear and consistent feedback, and without a mentor, a new principal may not have this type of assistance. This phenomenological study explores the perceptions of new principals and their assigned mentors in one legislated initiative, named by the researcher as the Vermont mentoring…

The "one-size-fits-all" approach to teaching and program delivery is indefensible. Minnesota has enacted a law specifying standards of knowledge and skills that high school students must demonstrate to qualify for a diploma via multiple pathways. All pathway programs (classical, postsecondary, interactive-technology evening school,…

Membership in the worldwide community means that students must possess globally competitive skills. In 1993, the author and the Colorado General Assembly worked to pass a comprehensive educational reform strategy that established "model" content standards in mathematics, science, geography, history, reading, and writing. Uniform…

This study concludes that a 1985 Illinois instructional leadership mandate does not provide enough incentive or necessary resources for school principals to change their behavior to comply with the legislation. Also, school realities make job changes difficult for principals desiring to adopt new behaviors. (MLH)

In April 1996, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed into law the School Improvement and Technology Program, providing $150 million over five years to help districts update and upgrade technology and train faculty to use it. The Iowa Communication Network was developed to strengthen small districts while protecting their long-standing community…

Although most teachers are aware of documents identifying standards in their subject areas, few know about "external" standards documents or the standards movement as a whole. Despite impressive lists of content standards, U.S. educators lack direction due to four major problems: multiple documents, too much information, controversial content, and…

In Kentucky, where school-based decision making is legally mandated for all public schools, appreciable policy and decision-making powers are vested in SBDM school councils. Since 1990, educators have learned some valuable lessons: reform policies need early implementation guidelines; decentralization mandates create control problems for state…