This collection of papers introduces the core ideas of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), as Total Quality Management is known in the field of higher education, and underscores its usefulness and relevance for higher education. Papers have the following titles and authors: "The Roots of the TQM Movement" (Warren Schmidt and Jerome Finnigan);…

In 1990, Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Washington, decided to implement four schools within schools, each with its separate academic and career focus. The first section of this paper outlines the 3-year evaluation plan for the Health/Science School (1992-1995), with a focus on identifying program outcomes and developing assessment measures.…

Guided by Piaget's constructivist theory on how children learn, this book explores an innovative approach to teaching physical knowledge in preschool. Part 1 differentiates between "science education" and "physical-knowledge" activities, noting that physical-knowledge activities involve primarily movements of objects and changes in objects. This…

The Accelerated School Program is designed to improve the education of disadvantaged students by using "acceleration" techniques used with gifted and talented students. The goal is to speed up the learning of at-risk students so they will be able to perform at grade level by the end of elementary school. Central to the strategy is the…

Factors such as the need for flexible, responsive schools prompted the 1980s national dialogue about possible societal and economic changes in the role of the educational system. Those same factors set the national and Minnesota agenda for youth in the 1990s and on into the 21st Century. Changes that occur in the educational systems should achieve…

This paper describes a study of an alternative, innovative high school designed to serve at-risk students and dropouts returning to public school. The PRIDE (Positive Responsible Individuals Desiring Education) Center, located in San Marcos (Texas) Consolidated Independent School District, opened in September 1989. The center's program includes…

Projects supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) have a very high survival ratio after the grant has ended. The reason for this success seems to lie in the structure and principles of FIPSE. These principles (which can be adopted as guidelines in the creation of other innovation funds) include allowing maximum…

Describes that nature of organizational development in this district and provides background information. By the close of the 1975-76 school year the district will have moved from a district centered to a school-based management system. (AM)

Describing the contribution social workers could make to social change based on the emerging awareness of ethnic and cultural pluralism in American society, the author outlines necessary changes in social work education approaches, admission policies, curriculum organization, curriculum practices, and content to reflect a positive view toward…

Criticizes the post-Sputnik wave of multi-disciplinary science curricula aimed at teaching the students about social problems and how science can help solve these problems. Suggests that science teaching should concentrate more on the basics of a given discipline and should be taught be specialists rather than generalists. (MLH)

Sweden's program for practical work orientation for secondary level students is described. (DE)

A Chicago inner-city high school that attempted "top-down" innovations without true teacher participation finds that little has changed, according to a teacher who has been case historian. (Author)

This article discusses several recently designed university art teacher education programs. (RC)