In 1993, the Michigan legislature passed a bill that allowed school districts to adopt early elementary school program initiatives. These initiatives established nongraded, continuous progress programs for grades 1 through 4. An overview of how the state coordinator helped school districts implement this multiage, nongraded model is presented in…

This book explores the history and evolution of six innovative colleges, examining how these institutions have adapted and transformed themselves in today's social, political, and economic environments. The book contends that these institutions, which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, can serve as models today. Case study chapters describe the…

This paper outlines reasons why current school improvement efforts in the Miami-Dade (Florida) school district are inadequate and offers an approach that will both build on the formal structure already in place and add a methodology to make it more effective. The text focuses on the field of system dynamics and how this method of analyzing…

This booklet provides information about block scheduling--its advantages and drawbacks. Schools can use it as a discussion tool to improve their use of time by reformulating student and teacher schedules. The booklet can help educators choose a block scheduling program that will suit their school. The booklet explains the purpose of block…

This paper explores factors that teachers consider to be "barriers" to educational improvement. For the study, "barriers" are those things that hinder or restrict progress. Subjects for the study were graduate students (N=151) in educational leadership programs at three Louisiana universities. The survey instrument, called the…

The Bush Foundation's leadership-development programs are an important source of inservice leadership training in Minnesota. The extent to which these programs influence pre-collegiate education is explored. The paper draws on a longitudinal study that asked two basic questions: what are the long-term effects of the Bush Leadership Programs on…

This book is based on a review of the literature on decentralization and teacher management. The focus is on basic formal education, mainly the primary and junior secondary levels of schooling, and on presenting a rationale for decentralizing teacher management. The book presents three models of decentralized teacher management, explores the…

This paper describes approaches that states have taken to systemic reform in adult education programs, approaches driven by the demand for accountability and high-quality services from legislation and other sources. It begins by defining systemic change and presenting a framework for understanding it. The document presents approaches in four areas…

This booklet is designed to assist state leaders as they develop their process for allocating funds to schools. It suggests components of a state-allocation process that are based on research and field experience with successfully implemented comprehensive school-reform (CSR) models. The document provides guidelines for defining the eligibility of…

This guide is the third of three documents that make up a Professional Development Package for Educational Systems Design. It is intended for use by members of a core design team and assumes that the school district and community have committed themselves to a systems design process, and that a design leadership group representing the school…

In 1988 the Illinois General Assembly passed an act that shifted decision making authority on budgetary, curricular, and personnel issues from central offices to local school councils (LSCs). Eleven principals were interviewed at the end of the first year of reform implementation to learn about their early perceptions of reform initiatives and how…

In 1989, South Carolina passed the Flexibility Through Desegregation Program as a means to provide exemptions from state oversight to those schools that had demonstrated sustained improvement. The first section of this paper provides an overview of educational improvement legislation enacted in South Carolina, specifically, the deregulated schools…

Findings of a study that examined the progress of three Indiana schools (Beech Grove Senior High School, Indianapolis; Linton-Stockton Elementary School, southwestern Indiana; and Richmond High School) toward educational innovation goals under the 21st Century Schools Pilot Project are presented in this paper. Each school is described in terms of…

Information about two possible actions as followups to school choice is provided in this paper, with attention to the concepts of teachers in private practice and charter schools. The movement of teachers in private practice involves educators as entrepreneurs who contract with school districts. Benefits include a high degree of accountability and…

Written to help social studies teachers, this annotated bibliography identifies the best contemporary materials available to develop and implement exciting, innovative lessons. The first section identifes resources that are listed under seven subject headings: (1) U.S. history; (2) civics and law-related education; (3) world history, including…