The instructional management system of Glendale (Arizona) Union High School District is described. Efforts in this area are coordinated through six interrelated components: (1) a well-defined curriculum, with extensive review and community survey of learner priorities; (2) program improvement plans based on the Theory Z concept, in which the…

Research shows that small schools and schools within schools can yield positive outcomes for students and improved satisfaction and effectiveness among school staff. Small schools can be less costly than larger ones if judged by expenditure per graduate instead of cost per pupil enrolled. Examination of the policy environments of urban schools in…

The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) took groups of national policymakers to visit effective and innovative high schools and to meet with reform-minded leaders as a way to become familiar with the challenges and possibilities of high school redesign. This report summarizes the best practices and policies that were successful in the transformed…

The research methodology of this study included both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Samples consisted of school counselors from 66 Victorian, 33 ACT, and 71 NSW schools in Australia. Findings show that building genuine partnerships between school and external communities requires lots of effort, commitment, and time. Effectiveness of a…

This report provides a review of literature published in the past 2 decades on the role and effectiveness of school boards. Though school boards are but one component of school district leadership--the superintendent and other district administrators and staff constituting the other main components--school boards are the focus of this review…

In 1989, the Kentucky Supreme Court declared that the state's public school system was unconstitutional and ordered the Kentucky legislature to create a new system of public education. The Kentucky General Assembly then enacted the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). This book sets forth the policy assumptions underlying KERA and…

This paper explores what happens to the old central office when the familiar top-down structure of school governance is replaced by a charter-district system in which independent public schools operate on charters or contracts. For the most part, the paper examines districts that authorize and oversee a significant number of charter schools,…

In 1990, Congress charged OERI with evaluating the nation's school-reform efforts. Representative planners subsequently called for research proposals in systemic reform, school-based management, uses of time, student assessment, curriculum reform, educator professionalism, school-to-work transition, early childhood education, parent and community…

Argues for the importance of high school principals taking charge of their schools. Examines the following obstacles to effective leadership: historical developments in education in the last decades, union influence, legal problems, paperwork burdens, and lack of community and parent support. Also discusses the symbolic role of principals. (JB)

Examines the emergence and early implementation stages of Queensland (Australia) Education Department's policy for devolving responsibility to state schools. Clarifies the department's rhetoric in developing and promoting its decentralization policy; examines policy efficacy at the "school face" level; explores possible policy outcomes,…

Reviews the performance of large school districts, particularly those of New York City, and argues that their relatively poor performance is caused by fundamental tensions among effective school practices and the nature of large systems. Alternative means of encouraging school independence are considered, and the most noteworthy of these are…

Describes the successful bilingual education program at Socorro High School, Texas. As a result of site-based management, teacher-collaborative strategic planning, widespread ESL certification, and a parent-student-teacher school improvement team, students (98% Hispanic, 90% poor) consistently score above state averages; fewer than 2% drop out,…

Case study of how teachers reacted to policy paradoxes related to a district's efforts to implement an inclusive special-education program. Examines how emerging teacher leaders attempted to make sense of several policy paradoxes within the context of ambiguous site-based management practices. (Contains 48 references.) (PKP)

This publication contains two papers on the implications of school decentralization for teacher education, student achievement, and democracy. The first paper, "Devolution in Education Systems: Implications for Teacher Professional Development and Pupil Performance" (Geoff Whitty), explores the way education reform movements for…

Rural school boards have a unique opportunity to impact education by involving teachers, administrators, and the community in policy development. To make policy an instrument of empowerment, policymakers should consider the following steps: (1) seeking information from any and all groups that the policy will affect to develop a statement about…