Describes events leading to the establishment of four urban professional development schools (PDS) by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Public Schools. School sites, university/school district interaction, preservice student activities, and schoolwide change projects are described. Results of a survey of site teachers on PDS…

Examines the visions for the redesign of schools and the ways in which computers and communications technology have provided the means for these visions. Highlights include changes in instructional practices, including collaborative learning and interdisciplinary themes; change agents in the redesign of schools; and school organization and…

This article describes the Pathfinder Project, an Arizona project which serves adjudicated youth in an alternative placement based on a "Success School" model of the school as a learning organization with high emphasis on community service, individual goals, work-study, coaching for success, and group counseling. (DB)

Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition was implemented with elementary school regular, remedial, and special education students as an approach for organizing reading and language arts instruction. Compared to a control school, the experimental school found significant effects on reading vocabulary, total reading, and language scores but…

Magnet schools were created as a result of the failure of mandatory desegregation plans, but the magnet schools concept has spawned the ideas of controlled parent choice of schools and the chartering of public education. Implementation of the Goals 2000 Act could jeopardize trends magnet schools have set in motion. (SLD)

Discusses the transition to a postbinary higher education system in Australia and the United Kingdom. Contends that, in Australia, the new direction was motivated by official concerns that universities be made more accessible to government priorities. Maintains that the Australian approach ignored a canon for diversity in higher education. (CFR)

As his high school restructured to improve student outcomes, a biology teacher altered the instructional environment of his classroom accordingly, emphasizing curriculum, instruction, and assessment. As he acted more like a coach than a dispenser of information, students took more responsibility for learning and improving the quality of their…

This response to five case studies of inclusive practices for elementary students with learning disabilities identifies problems inherent in inclusive education (e.g., coteaching and logistics) and suggests that fundamental school reform offers an alternative that meets recognized best-practice standards and requires the trained skills of learning…

Summarizes a three-year Consortium for Policy Research in Education project to identify conditions in U.S., Canadian, and Australian schools that promote high performance through school-based management. Findings showed that SBM requires redesign of the whole school organization. Success depended on how schools decentralized four key resources:…

Discusses results of teachers' unionism in setting standards for teaching and representing teachers' economic and work conditions interests. Suggests that despite the efforts, teachers are still workers subject to coercion and exploitation. Argues that the profession's boundaries are hard to define and defend, and existing laws do not support the…

Explores the principal's role in school reform. Attaching express legitimate power to the principal and ensuring that its effective and collaborative use is the most immediate route to reform. An autonomous, accountable, and achieving principal can function in a school reform setting like that of Chicago (Illinois). (SLD)

One Massachusetts elementary school, desegregated and rebuilt with a complete system of state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure, has shown how technology can influence school restructuring and student achievement. School's technology is integrated into the whole curriculum. Garfield School's experience shows that computers can benefit both…

The Panasonic Foundation provides resources for restructuring school districts. The article examines its partnership with the San Diego City School District, highlighting four schools that demonstrate promising practices and guiding principles. It describes recent partnership work on systemic issues, noting the next steps to be taken in San Diego.…

The movement to reform the Chicago (Illinois) public schools faces a host of problems in the classroom and a sea of social ills outside the classroom. Without support from the African American community and largely cut off from the reform process, neither significant progress nor progressive change can be made. (SLD)

Asserts that teachers are already significant decision makers regarding curriculum and instruction. Argues that teachers and students cannot be empowered by others. Suggests four conditions to enhance teacher growth and informed engagement: systematic study of self; subject matter, pedagogy, and learners; society; and utilization of contingency…