This ERIC digest focuses on school restructuring as the central issue in the school reform movement by answering five questions: (1) What is "restructuring?" (2) What characteristics of the current educational system are the objects of reform? (3) How can restructuring attend to new skills students will need? (4) How can individual…

This digest summarizes some of the recent research regarding school-based management (SBM). In particular, it addresses two questions: (1) Is SBM working, and (2) What can schools changing to an SBM system do to ensure success? Information is presented on what type of SBM system works best, research on SBM success, the kinds of problems…

This digest in Spanish discusses a contemporary rationale for decentralizing fiscal decisions through school-based budgeting (SBB). It comments on procedural, legal, and equity considerations; reviews several studies of SBB implementation in urban districts; and identifies emerging policy and research directions. The rationale behind SBB includes…

This digest discusses a contemporary rationale for decentralizing fiscal decisions through school-based budgeting (SBB). It comments on procedural, legal, and equity considerations; reviews several studies of SBB implementation in urban districts; and identifies emerging policy and research directions. The rationale behind SBB includes the finding…

School-based budgeting decentralizes fiscal decisions and is usually adopted as part of a comprehensive school-based management plan. The practice requires cooperation, particularly from the school board, superintendent, and principals. The purpose of school-based budgeting is not to reduce costs but to improve school productivity by altering…

This Digest advocates alternative educational programs as ways to reduce dropout rates, increase academic and personal satisfaction and achievement, provide real options for struggling students, and generate improvement in all grade levels. The study discusses five concerns in relation to alternative school programs: (1) issues raised regarding…

School governance has recently come under scrutiny as one of the many areas of public education being examined in the educational reform movement. School boards are being criticized by state governments, educational experts, and the public. Crisis situations have developed in many educational systems nationwide, particularly in urban areas. In…

The impact of school-based management (SBM) on student performance is examined in this digest. The first part describes school-based management and its potential for improving student performance. A review of research concludes that, overall, school-based management has not contributed to consistent or stable improvements in student performance.…

This brief report summarizes a longer document with the same title. Distinctive colleges and universities possess a unifying theme or vision that is expressed in all their activities. They also usually respond to newly emerging societal or community needs unmet by existing schools of higher education. Distinctiveness, however, can limit the…

Economic forces and educational equity issues have combined to heighten calls for improved education for all students. Systemic reform calls for education to be reconceptualized from the ground up, beginning with the nature of teaching and learning, educational relationships, and school-community relationships. One of the assumptions made by…

This digest briefly reviews major approaches to restructuring American schools and evaluates their potential for improving student learning and their feasibility--politically, financially, and administratively. The following reasons for restructuring are discussed: (1) poor educational performance; and (2) the changing skills needed for today's…

Recent educational reform efforts have sought to restructure schools, changing the character of school culture and creating a need for a nontraditional approach to inservice teacher education. Inservice projects have been implemented which attempt to prepare practicing teachers for restructured schools and as participants in the restructuring…

Quality work teams that are based on W. Edwards Deming's business-management theories have proliferated at the school and district levels to handle problem solving and decision making. Teams are said to build stronger relationships among those involved in education and, ultimately, to benefit students because more people with broader perspectives…

This digest discusses the issue of school-based management (SBM), defined as a system of administration in which the school is the primary unit of educational decision making. Responsibility for certain decisions about the budget, personnel, and the curriculum is placed at the school level rather than the district level. Several aspects of SBM are…

This digest examines a completed pilot program in performance-driven budgeting (PDB) in the New York City public-school system. PDB links school-level budgeting and school planning; that is, decisions about resources must be aligned with school-developed instructional-improvement plans. The digest highlights how PDB came about; its primary goal;…