St. Louis Public Schools established 15 community education centers to provide comprehensive educational services, changing the way administrators and staff operate. The program had to overcome resistance to change, ensure that mission and purpose were understood by all, recognize that change and trust take time, and deal with differences that may…

An interview with the director of the recently established International Center on Outcome-Based Restructuring explains that outcome-based education focuses on defining, pursuing, and ensuring success with the same high-level outcomes for all students. (MLF)

Provides an overview of the New American Schools Development (NASDC) competition, a celebrated national contest to reward design teams for imagining and building radically better schools. Reviews 11 winning projects and 14 interesting ones that did not appeal to private-sector judges. Having run out of steam, the NASDC seems content as funding…

Shows how a former high school principal (with no doctorate, central office experience, or big-city political savvy) pulled the Cincinnati (Ohio) schools out of a $76 million debt and implemented reforms recommended by the Buenger Commission. The new superintendent slashed central office positions, reorganized 86 schools into 9 minidistricts, and…

Summarizes findings of a five-year study of eight schools participating in the Coalition of Essential Schools/Education of the States Re:Learning project. Most schools appeared to lack consensus about the need for fundamental changes in school structure or teaching practices; changes began slowly, with individual or small-group efforts that…

Differentiates among renewal, reform, and restructuring activities and intentions in education, highlighting conceptualizations that stress fundamental change. Defines "restructuring" as activities that change fundamental assumptions, practices, and relationships, both within the organization and between the organization and the outside world, in…

Community education must address issues that affect a variety of cultures at different levels. Public school desegregation processes offer opportunities for restructuring schools to be more responsive to community needs, for enhancing race relations, and for improving the economic viability of a community. (JOW)

Missing in curriculum revision/school restructuring links is a curriculum paradigm that incorporates reflective intelligence while promoting social and utilitarian responsibilities. The "social-reconstructive wedge" model described in this article addresses this paradoxical issue by treating the school system as a social system where constituents…

In a study using qualitative methodology, the views of school restructuring held by school principals are explored. Participants were 15 principals from public schools in New York, Illinois, and Tennessee. In-depth interviews sought the perceptions of the principals on conceptions of restructuring, the potential impact of restructuring, and…

No U.S. school district is world class. Radical systemic reform must (1) recognize that learning in context works; (2) assert that noncollege careers have worth; (3) raise standards and expectations. Foundation skills needed include basic, thinking, personal, resource, interpersonal, information, technology, and systems. (SK)

Movements to restructure public education focus on the following perceived inadequacies: unequal funding, bureaucracy and control, failure to meet standards, and obsolete curriculum. Approaches to restructuring differ according to the values and educational preferences of the reformers. (SK)

To measure teacher involvement in decision-making, the authors developed Teacher Decision-Making Instrument, a 68-item survey with 8 categories. This instrument can be used for follow-up analyses and for comparisons between teacher and administrator responses. The Shared Education Decisions Survey is designed for use by members of school…

A school's reengineering must first make sense to the leadership team before being sold to a skeptical faculty. The principalship's real power lies in persuasion. The Six "I" Framework, a model to help principals argue persuasively for change, is based on interdisciplinary instruction, integrated instructional targets and assessment practices,…

Many Vietnamese parents do not understand their right and responsibility to participate in decision-making processes affecting their children's education. This article discusses the information dissemination, logistical support, authentic dialogue, and parental empowerment techniques crucial to ensuring the Vietnamese community's active role in…

School improvement literature focuses on the early stages of the change process and neglects actions to ensure its permanence. This article reviews research on institutionalization and the management of change in schools and develops a model for managing performance dips. Change facilitators must create administrative support and understanding,…