Presents a case study of the ideology, strategies and process of the "Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh" project in its attempt at school reform in an urban school district. Reflects on the project's activities, and uses its experience to develop a conceptual framework based on chaos theory, as developed in mathematics and science, for discussing…

Examines development and implementation of Britain's National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) initiative, particularly the needs-assessment process, from an assessment center manager's perspective. Despite the pace, changing context, and inadequate resources, this initiative has ensured that principals will have more systematic…

Constructing standards for performance-based classrooms requires a more student-centered curriculum and a changing teacher role. This article presents a standards-based design strategy based on selecting a unit topic, choosing authentic culminating activities, choosing related curriculum goals, creating unit goals, developing unit assessments,…

Reports on the initial implementation of the Success For All (SFA) reading/school improvement program in inner city primary schools in Nottingham, England. Finds students made as much progress in one term in reading as they would normally make in one year; and their motivation, behavior, attitude to and skills in learning also increased. (RS)

Examines value-added student achievement levels of 74 school districts named as litigants in "Tennessee v. Small School Systems v. McWherter" and compares them with those of 64 nonlitigating districts. Although litigant districts have achieved greater fiscal equity, student achievement has not significantly improved. (Contains 11…

Although 360-degree feedback is no panacea for improving schools, it provides educational leaders with data to help them perceive, reflect, articulate, and analyze their own behavior, based on data from a full circle of constituents, including themselves. Face-to-face coaching is a mandatory component. (MLH)

Mount Holyoke College's discussion-based Lenses on Learning seminars consist of 3 10-hour sessions that invite administrators to consider new ideas about mathematics, learning, and teaching and applications for their practice-supervising teachers, supporting their professional development, suggesting assessment approaches, addressing…

Discusses the integration of classes in a generational model for distance education, specifically the G3 model, which focuses on the implementation of a study skills course. Reports that students are presented with online handouts and links to developmental education sites, e-mail and Web-based forums, and audio-video conferences and chat rooms.…

Restructuring efforts, including curriculum integration, require that teachers exercise intellectual skills transcending craft wisdom and recipe exchanges. This article explores the tension between teamed middle-school teachers' technical interest in seeking recipes and their deliberationist interest in engaging in fruitful dialog. Teachers…

A key to successful implementation of a World Wide Web-based library information system is effective collaboration between campus library and information technology professionals, representing a long-term commitment to breakdown of organizational barriers, individual empowerment, and shared vision. The Web sites designed by Indiana…

Poised to help legally homeless parents become their children's best teachers, instructors in a Nevada literacy program found that human relationships took precedence over academics. Instructors learned the importance of renaming the program (to avoid association with prior academic failure) and blending literacy activities with hot meals, family…

A methodology is presented for collection of cost data in evaluation of community-level health interventions that coincides with the intervention implementation. The seven discrete steps of the analysis are described, and the Minimal Contact Education for Cholesterol Change study is used as an example of how the strategy is used. (SLD)

An evaluation of case management services to families on public assistance suggests that a "logic model" and an "open systems" evaluation approach might be useful in program evaluation. A second study describes how the logic model and open systems evaluation were used to develop an evaluation plan for services to homeless…

The case study of a community relations program in Northern Ireland demonstrates the importance of contextual variables and illustrates that the demands of short-term, context-stripped, value-for-money evaluations are often in conflict with qualitative inquiries that can reveal the social, political, and cultural influences on program delivery.…

Discusses a British primary headteacher's attempts to introduce collaborative decision making by establishing regular formal meetings, both as a whole staff and within age-related teams. Describes and interprets the varied, complex patterns of staff response. Teachers are more responsive to collegial leadership styles when they perceive that the…