Maintains that the division of opinions in a staff can determine an educational innovation's success or failure. Teacher empowerment can help forge widespread agreement and consensus for the innovation. These principles are exemplified by the Sizer initiative in the Delaware schools, which is described. (BB)

The context of the educational reform movement is examined, including the concept of reform itself. The rationales for reform arguments are assessed. Decision making in educational reform can be improved by greater attention to the concept of reform and the rationales for reform arguments. (SLD)

Brown University's Coalition of Essential Schools offers alternatives to traditional routines and practices. The article observes three Essential Schools teachers who have begun changing their classroom practices. Information is presented from an ongoing, three-year study of teacher change sponsored by the coalition. (SM)

A study of Ontario (Canada) colleges examined the government fiscal policy, profitability motives, bureaucratic organizational norms, incrementalism, and political and power relationships that impede successful integration of centers of innovation and entrepreneurship into colleges. Other factors not yet researched are discussed. (Author/MSE)

Colombia's rural "escuelas nuevas" feature multigrade classrooms, flexible promotion, rural-oriented curriculum, parent and community involvement, mastery learning, peer instruction, and library resources. A study of over 3,000 students found that, compared to traditional schools, Escuela Nueva schools had lower dropout probabilities,…

To advance educational innovation, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education supports a practitioner-based action research approach to educational improvement through project reporting, conferences, project clusters, Lessons Learned publications, feedback, policy revisions, and dissemination grants. The fund attempts to sustain a…

Describes how two professors in the social sciences and humanities successfully used the World Wide Web to enhance their lessons at Connecticut's Quinebaug Valley Community-Technical College. Indicates that as a result of these initial efforts, technology was incorporated in classes throughout campus. (JDI)

This paper describes the growth of private-sector involvement in the delivery of postsecondary education and its effect on institutions and on the development of general and special education teachers. It contends that the corporate approach to activities and governance is antithetical, if not hostile, to teacher-education reform. (Author/CR)

Describes the activities of a Florida workshop designed to inform local service providers of the National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairments, Including Those with Multiple Disabilities, and to motivate them to design strategies to meet the eight goals of the National Agenda. (CR)

Five reviewers of "School Choice and Competition: Markets in the Public Interest?" (Routledge, 1998), by Philip Woods, Carl Bagley, and Ron Glatter, critique this comprehensive study of three educational quasi-markets in Great Britain. Areas such as social stratification, overall student achievement, diversity, and innovation appear to…

A small group of teachers at one Illinois high school is helping to effect and promote change. Through the Action Research Laboratory (ARL), teams of teachers conduct collaborative action research to improve classroom practices. Data from the first two years of the ARL indicate that teachers are eager to participate in, and have thrived in, their…

Contends that this article, a reflection on research as poetic rumination, is scholarly writing, though it might not look or sound like the writing that fills academic journals. Criticizes research that is "bloodless," having been written in the sterility of the monastic sanctum and the academic study. (VWC)

Although it does not offer tenure or tenure-track appointments, the newly established Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has not had difficulty attracting qualified faculty. The creation of the institution, recruitment of faculty, characteristics of new faculty hires, characteristics of the interview pool for new positions, faculty reasons for…

Details changes in programs and practice to improve middle level education. Examines characteristics of developmentally responsive middle schools. Identifies barriers to efforts to provide meaningful learning experiences through curriculum integration. Maintains that changes should revolve around expanding teachers' models of learning to…

Explains that Helen Parkhurst's Dalton Laboratory Plan disappeared quickly in many British schools but remained for over 40 years in the King Alfred School in London (England). Explores the development of the Dalton Plan at King Alfred, why this educational innovation thrived at the school, and the causes for its disappearance. (CMK)