This paper contends that a preservice course in school change must tap into practitioners' lived experiences, recommending a case-based learning experience where practitioners reflect critically on their own practice and develop a rationale for change. The paper examines key aspects of the change process, noting how the process should look. (SM)

Examines teachers' responses to reform efforts prescribed for them as appropriate for reformed schools, considering emerging difficulties when teaching and reform are conceptualized not as situated, but as universal and generalizable in form and intention. Teacher responses to such static reform often replicate power relations circulating in…

Tacit educational assumptions based on power and control are compared to current professional knowledge on teaching, learning, and school organization. Points out that educational leadership is needed that engages in self-critical analysis of our current instructional practices. Learning environments must be based on an understanding of young…

Staff developers are being called upon to operate in four dimensions as skilled school change facilitators (process leaders, skills trainers, resource consultants, and energy enhancers). For staff developers to adopt the role of school change facilitator, expertise in both change process and group process skills is crucial. (SM)

The most recent annual American Council on Education study of minorities in higher education examined, by race and ethnicity, high school completion and dropout rates and trends in college preparation, educational attainment, college enrollment, degrees conferred, and higher education employment. The report urges colleges and universities to begin…

Based on middle-class, white values and assumptions, school restructuring proposed in "first wave reform" will increase inequity and stratification and hamper social mobility for minorities. School choice, outcomes-based education, and secondary track systems are critiqued. When race, culture, and ethnicity influence educational policy, students…

Explores recent policy initiatives in England and Wales that affect the character of day care and early education and their implications for practice. Focuses on parental involvement in early reading in the new policy context. Presents results from the pilot phase of the National Literacy Project, including impact on the context of home reading,…

Institutional norms, practices, and unwritten policies that further mediocrity include transferring nonperforming staff to avoid problems, tolerating inadequate or misleading evaluations, ignoring student-performance data in supervisory interactions, and shielding staff from meeting standards through work assignments. Focus, persistence, and…

Describes creating a middle school literacy approach that combines teaming and exploratory experiences with a technology-based intervention. Considers classroom environment, the literacy workshop, the Peabody Learning Lab software, evaluation, multi-media projects, teacher support, and assessment. (JPB)

Describes the framework of the Annie E. Casey Foundation for addressing the family and community factors that make family and child success particularly challenging in poor neighborhoods. Discusses the importance of economic opportunities, strong social networks, and formal supports/services. Describes the Neighborhood Transformation/Family…

Change must be personally relevant, beneficial, clearly defined and believed to be achievable. To renovate school facilities, several steps are necessary: identifying future trends and making them personally applicable, establishing a realistic vision, creating functional facility goals, seeing the building as an empty shell, and considering…

Three educators discuss shared leadership among faculty, administration, and trustees in higher education, addressing five issues: in what venues, other than faculty senates, collaboration takes place; why the outside world is hostile to the academic governing process; why faculty feel threatened and powerless; how faculty can mitigate hostility…

Analysis of data from state programs providing financial assistance for needy persons and disability prevalence data led to recommendations such as expanding access to health care and quality early childhood care for at-risk children, promoting the use of behavioral health services, lowering eligibility standards, and increasing the use of Social…

As Latino children and families constitute the fastest growing ethnic group in the child welfare system, it is important to understand how to develop culturally sensitive collaborations. Suggested guidelines for developing collaborations between child welfare agencies and Latino communities include: (1) organizational and administrative…

Contends that these are the "best of times" for public and private education in the United States, focusing on educational reform initiatives that could significantly reshape Montessori education at all levels. Examines the impact of several reform initiatives: national and state standards, testing and accountability, research-based curriculum and…