This paper describes the arrangement between an English local education agency and a co-educational comprehensive school, in which the school contracts for services with a direct-service agency of the local education authority (LEA). Roade School is one of the larger schools in Northamptonshire, a rural county in central England. The…

The nature and direction of educational reform and the principal's role in it are examined in this book. Information was gathered from a questionnaire that was mailed to an unspecified number of leading principals and administrators in each of the 50 states. A selected number of the initial respondents participated in a follow-up questionnaire.…

This paper describes the implementation of the School-Based Improvement (SBI) model in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Texas, which was piloted by a total of 28 schools during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 school years. Evaluation was conducted through a review of campus improvement plans and student achievement data, interviews with six…

The demand for reform and improved schools are two constant issues in American education. Despite periodic reform efforts, most schools have resisted systemic reform. The Effective Schools Movement was a reaction to assertions in the 1960s that schools had little influence on a child's education. Effective Schools involve all relevant stakeholders…

This study used interviews, home visits, observations of parent meetings, and informal discussions to examine parental involvement at a Texas elementary school with a high concentration of Mexican American families. In 1997-98, the school's Parent Involvement Cadre (1995-1997) was replaced with a new system of subject-related and support…

This comparative analysis deals with the administration and evaluation structures for primary and secondary schools in the member states of the European Community. It addresses four major issues: (1) how to hand over large amounts of autonomy to schools without upsetting the unity of the national education system; (2) what role parents and others…

The changing role of the principal under school-based management is examined in this paper. The implementation of the Chicago School Reform Act in 1989 shifted responsibility for school governance from the Central Board of Education to school-based management councils at each of the city's schools. Interviews were conducted with 10 elementary and…

This paper describes research needs in light of changes taking place in school-based practice in both general and special education. The tenets of educational reform and societal concerns fueling demands for reform are identified. The context in which changes in educational practices are occurring is described, focusing on evolving relationships…

Restructuring schools has become a rallying cry among educators. It aims to create schools that are more centered on learner's needs for active, experiential, cooperative, and culturally connected learning opportunities supportive of individual talents and learning styles. This report is based on an early evaluation of the process of restructuring…

This paper revisits the literature on the nature of school organizations and presents a view of secondary schools as complex social systems, as opposed to bureaucratic-rational structures. Research was conducted into three Western Australia secondary schools planning to implement school-based decision making and planning procedures. The…

Lincoln Accelerated School has participated in Missouri's Accelerated Schools Project since 1990. Grounded on a school-based management model, it seeks to modify the educational experiences of at-risk elementary students by enriching the curricular offerings and instructional strategies provided them. The school underwent a major stressor when the…

This book provides useful guidelines for implementing collaborative decision making in the public educational system. The prologue presents the historical background of educational reform in the United States and offers a rationale for radical school reform at the individual school level. The nine chapters that follow are divided into three parts.…

In 1987, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2020, the School Improvement and Professional Development Program. Designed to encourage innovation and professional development in a select number of Oregon schools, this act was intended to upgrade educational quality and create models for other state schools. Rather than evaluating program…

This evaluation summarizes an analysis of site observations of training sessions for the core planning teams of Project Creating a New Approach to Learning (CANAL), part of a court-mandated desegregation plan to reduce inequities in predominantly Black and Hispanic American schools in Chicago (Illinois). CANAL's goal is to train the core planning…

This evaluation analyzes participation of Local School Council (LSC) members in the special training activities of Project Creating a New Approach to Learning (CANAL), part of a court-mandated desegregation plan in Chicago (Illinois). CANAL's goal was to organize and train core planning teams (CPTs), including community members, to engage in…