Two powerful forces are driving American's demands for better schools -- one longstanding force is idealistic and the other is "new" and economic. The current group of young Americans is in danger of being the first full generation to consistently make less money and enjoy fewer worldly rewards than their parents. The intersection of idealistic and pragmatic forces has produced an era of calls for reform in U.S. education that is unparalleled -- calls that have resulted in the creation of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC). The chapters in this book highlight the path traveled by NASDC -- a private, non-profit corporation charged with creating new, "break the mold" school designs for the 21st century -- and describes the first three years' accomplishments of nine NASDC development teams.

In 1991, the New American Schools (NAS) Development Corporation was founded by a group of business and foundation leaders interested in investing in innovative designs for school transformation. This book describes the first 3 years of development and evaluation of 9 NAS whole-school restructuring designs. The designs were very diverse, as were their implementation sites, which included many small schools, some very large urban schools, and schools serving American Indian students. Following an introduction, "Bold Plans for School Restructuring: Nine Designs from New American Schools" (Sam Stringfield, Steven Ross, Lana Smith), the chapters are: (1) "Sharing the Vision: Creating New American Schools" (David T. Kearns, John L. Anderson); (2) "Audrey Cohen College System of Education: Purpose-Centered Education" (Audrey Cohen, Janith Jordan); (3) "ATLAS Communities: Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment for All Students" (Cynthia J. Orrell); (4) "The Co-NECT Design for School Change" (Bruce Goldberg, John Richards); (5) "The Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Design" (Meg Campbell, Emily Cousins, Greg Farrell, Mieko Kamii, Diana Lam, Leah Rugen, Denis Udall); (6) "The Modern Red Schoolhouse" (Rob Heady, Sally Kilgore); (7) "Reform at All Levels: National Alliance for Restructuring Education" (Robert Rothman); (8) "Roots and Wings: Universal Excellence in Elementary Education" (Robert E. Slavin, Nancy A. Madden, Barbara A. Wasik); (9) "Community Learning Centers" (Wayne B. Jennings); (10) "Los Angeles Learning Centers: An Initiative of Los Angeles Unified School District, United Teachers Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Educational Partnership" (Judy Johnson, John McDonald); and (11) "Lessons Learned: RAND's Formative Assessment of NAS's Phase 2 Demonstration Effort" (Susan Bodilly). (Contains contact information for New American Schools and Design Teams, along with reference notes in some chapters and an index.) (SV) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software.

In an effort to improve student achievement, thousands of US schools have adopted school reform models devised externally by universities and other organizations. Such models have been successful in improving individual schools or groups of schools, but what happens when educational reform attempts to extend from one school to many? Through qualitative data from several studies, this book explores what happens when school reform 'goes to scale'. Topics covered include: *why and how schools are adopting reforms *the influence of the local context and wider constraints on the implementation of reform *teachers and principals as change agents in schools *the evolution of reform design teams *the implementation, sustainability and expiration of reform, and its impact on educational change Each chapter concludes with guidelines for policy and practice. This book will be of interest to educational leaders and staff developers, educational researchers and policy makers, in the US and internationally.

This document presents the transcript of Congressional hearings to gather information as to why children cannot read. Current federal programs were reviewed as well. After opening statements of the Hon. Bill Goodling and the Hon. Tim Roemer, the transcript for the hearing held on July 10, 1997 on why children cannot read includes the texts of oral statements and prepared statements by the following individuals or organizations: Richard Venezky, Reid Lyon, Robert E. Slavin, Catherine Snow, Vivian L. Gadsden, Janet Nicholas, Barbara Ruggles, Margaret Doughty, the Hon. Bill Clay, and Carolyn McCarthy. The transcript for the hearing held on July 31, 1997 on a review of current federal programs on literacy includes the texts of oral statements and prepared statements by the following individuals or organizations: the Hon. Bill Clay, the Hon. Lamar Smith, Maris A. Vinovskis, Herbert Walberg, Joseph Johnson, Jr., Cheryl Wilhoyte, and Andrew Hayes. After an opening statement of the Hon. Bill Goodling, the transcript for the hearing held on September 3, 1997 on teachers as the key to helping America learn to read includes the texts of oral statements and prepared statements by the following individuals or organizations: Ann W. Mintz, Debra Wakefield, Kimberly Wilson, Laura D. Fredrick, Beth S. Check, Louisa C. Moats, Nancy Thompson, and materials submitted by the Hon. Bobby Scott. (RS)

The Handbook of Educational Policy provides a comprehensive overview of policy questions in education reform at local, state, and national levels. The book raises controversial questions, such as who really benefits from educational reform, and investigates issues of accountability, assessment, educational fads, technology in education, and other matters of educational policy. The book explores not only what education is, but what it can be and should be, providing a scholarly analysis of policy decisions as well as practical recommendations for parents, teachers, and policy-makers. Key Features * Provides informed discussion based on scholarly research * Contains practical recommendations for parents, educators, and policy-makers * Includes representation from local, state, and national levels * Considers comparisons of United States practices to reforms abroad * Addresses current issues and implications for the futures

Leading authorities in the field of racial and ethnic minority psychology have contributed to this handbook. It offers a thorough, scholarly overview of the psychology of racial, ethnic and minority issues in the U.S.A.