This paper describes the implementation of a reform program in a middle school located in a relatively large school district in southeastern Michigan. First, an integrative theory is presented as a promising framework for reforming middle-grade schools. The theory was developed within a social-cognitive framework that emphasizes the importance of…

This paper introduces a document that presents a set of indicators that the Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood recommends for early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) programs for infants and young children with special needs and their families. The indicators selected are research-based or…

Telling teachers what to do through state and district standard-setting policies is seen as antithetical to empowered teachers and a strengthened teaching profession. Policies for empowering teachers are less well articulated; teacher autonomy is often thought to be the automatic product of an absence of external constraints and guidelines. An…

This paper examines effects of combining long-range planning and computer-based modeling in institutions of higher education, with examples from application at Butler University (Indiana). The model was developed due to a need to obtain a 5-year forecast of revenues and expenditures and consists of eight dynamic submodels--one for each of the five…

This report reviews the implementation of Project Creating a New Approach to Learning (CANAL), part of a court-mandated desegregation plan in Chicago (Illinois), at the end of its first two years. CANAL's goal was to train the constituent representatives of the public schools to engage in shared decision-making and to develop organizational…

A sequentially planned program using quality circle techniques was adapted for the educational environment and Implemented in an elementary school in central Florida. The program consisted of 10 sessions designed to acquaint team leaders and administrators with the quality circle techniques and, under the direction of a trained facilitator, to…

Ways in which a high school principal implemented a shared decision-making structure into his school are described in this case study. Two research questions are explored: the identification of the principal's school improvement agenda; and how he improved his school. Methodology involved interviews with the principal and teachers, as well as…

A teacher action research study, undertaken as part of the larger Schools Reaching Out (SRO) project, sponsored by the Institute for Responsive Education, is described in this report. The project is based on the concept of the urban school, family, and community partnership as a means to improve all children's academic achievement and social…

The purpose of this paper is to consider different kinds of actions learners may take during computer assisted instruction (CAI), and to examine the kind of information they need in order to exercise control over the instruction, i.e., information about their performance level, the organization of the content, the choices available to them and the…

This issue of Forum, a journal designed to permit California community college faculty to share ideas, contains six articles focusing on issues related to the enactment of Assembly Bill 1725 (AB 1725). The first article, "Your Father's Oldsmobile: The Uses of Tradition in Core Programs," by John McFarland, analyzes the development of…

Site-based decisionmaking is the concept of collaboration between school faculty and administration in planning, problem solving, and decision making in school policies and practices. One reason to implement this type of management is that school reform requires the involvement of all stakeholders in the educational process to be effective. During…

The study described in this summary explores school and community factors that encourage parent participation in decisions that affect the quality of children's schooling. Its primary objective was to identify and compare factors that foster parent networks around school issues in suburban and urban areas. Five groups mobilized by middle class…

The effectiveness, behavior, and role of the consultant as policy advisor is examined in light of three operating assumptions: (1) that educational organiztions are subject to politicization; (2) that the consultant's primary role is to assist in nonroutine, potentially controversial policy decisions; and (3) that the consultant must therefore…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Something good is happening in Indiana that may be a model for the nation. The Indiana Congress on Education, which convened for the first time last June, could be an unconventional but effective way to change public policy. Throughout the fall, we've been treated to demonstrations of the…

To provide potential dropouts with increased opportunities for academic and social success and ensure school and community involvement, the Clinton County School District (Kentucky) has developed a comprehensive dropout prevention program emphasizing the assessment of student needs. This paper describes the program's purpose, target groups,…