This article explains how education in Scotland is different from that in other parts of the United Kingdom, noting the importance of both traditional values and the current political context. Concerns about standards are discussed in relation to three main issues: the Scottish curriculum; the comprehensive principle; and attempts at structural…

Almost immediately after he was named Commissioner of Education in March 2011, Stephen Bowen traveled to school districts across Maine and spoke to students, teachers, school administrators and community members about what they saw as the challenges confronting Maine's schools and what role they saw for the Maine Department of Education in…

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,…

This article discusses some of the various school-reform strategies that have been implemented since the publication of A Nation at Risk. It opens with an examination of standards-based accountability and some of the concerns and objections surrounding this movement. It asks whether standards are achieving their purpose, looks at the role of state…

The New Designs for the Comprehensive High School (NDCHS) project was conducted to develop design processes and specifications for developing new comprehensive high schools, and for restructuring existing schools in accordance with the comprehensive high school model. The project's impact on student learning at two early adapters of the…