At the beginning of his tenure in 1987, the superintendent of Clear Creek School District (Colorado) found that the district had no written K-12 curriculum, no ongoing process for developing such a curriculum, and no systematic process for staff development. To provide for change based on projected student needs for the 21st century, the…

The conference reported in this document provided a forum for California's public postsecondary education officials to address issues related to the underrepresentation of ethnic minority students. An introduction provides statements on the nature of the problem, reasons for the problem, possible solutions, conference objectives, and conference…

This resource guide is intended to assist local Texas school districts in the implementation of site-based decision-making and in the development of district and campus plans that will result in improved student performance. This document includes information on site-based decision-making and suggestions for developing district and campus plans.…

A study sought to determine the extent to which local accountability systems exist in vocational education and to describe the nature of the underlying relationships between such programs and their constituents. Data were collected through interviews from two local vocational education programs in each of five states (California, Florida,…

This case study reports on a comprehensive college and its implementation of several initiatives for the reform of teacher education. In its revision process, Marywood College (Pennsylvania) focused on six specific objectives: (1) to investigate major national studies on the improvement of teaching; (2) to collaborate with school practitioners;…

Due to state revenue shortfalls and mandated Medicaid and welfare expenditures, substantial cuts were made in state aid to higher education institutions in Maryland in 1992. To meet the fiscal crisis, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) implemented several cost containment measures that had been considered, but not acted upon, in the past.…

Between 1986 and 1990, a longitudinal study called Teacher Education and Learning to Teach (TELT) was conducted by the National Center for Research on Teacher Education (NCRTE). The purposes of the study were: to investigate how formal teacher education bears on teacher learning; the impact that a variety of approaches or alternatives have on…

This essay posits a problem of "fit" between five streams of reform (subject matter teaching, diverse student populations, uses of student assessment, social organization of schooling, and professionalization of teaching), and prevailing configurations of teachers' professional development. It argues that the dominant…

The paper reviews a national survey of alternative teacher certification programs, comparing the data to: (1) Teacher Education Policy in the States: A 50-State Survey of Legislative and Administrative Actions (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), December 1990); and (2) Alternative Teacher Certification: A…

This monograph is written to be used by school personnel and is a compilation of many ideas. The first chapter discusses the two key ingredients that school districts must consider to promote restructuring: leadership and teacher participation. Eight steps in the process and planning of restructuring are listed. As schools begin the process of…

Group discussion on emerging trends in special education and implications for training personnel resulted in policy recommendations on leadership training for teacher educators. The group felt that the education of special educators and general educators, from undergraduate to doctoral levels, has evolved from different origins and proceeded in…

As a result of state legislators' conviction that Chapter 1 fund mismanagement by the Chicago Public Schools had led to yearly increases in administration size to the detriment of students' real needs, the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 placed a cap on noninstructional expenses and a progressive cessation on state aid to the poverty impaction…

This document presents a basic model of the relationship between leadership, situation, and outcomes. Following a discussion of questions on the nature, origin, and future significance of good school leadership, the conceptual, empirical, and practical tasks of a systematic approach to school leadership are explored. Multiple constituents, school…

After a brief introduction offering three reasons people and institutions hesitate to commit themselves to a continuing process of "self-study-in-action," four types of administrative leadership activities are distinguished, those that: (1) respond to external emergencies/opportunities, (2) accomplish role-defined tasks, (3) define and…

Many entry level employees do not have the skills to become productive members of the work force. The nationwide decline in educational performance is documented by functional illiteracy among 13 percent of white 17-year-olds, and 42 percent of black 17-year-olds; a decline in the national average scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT); and…