Bold Plans for School Restructuring

Bold Plans for School Restructuring
Author: Samuel C. Stringfield
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1136495274
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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.

The Accelerated Schools Resource Guide

The Accelerated Schools Resource Guide
Author: Wendy S. Hopfenberg
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Total Pages: 406
Release: 1993-10-29
Genre: Education
ISBN:
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"The Resource Guide has been created to serve as a sourcebook on the accelerated school ... it provides background and supportive information that can be used in conjunction with training to launch and sustain an accelerated school." (Introduction, 2).

Roots

Roots
Author: Emily Cousins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2000
Genre: Experiential learning
ISBN: 9780787276447
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... this anthology explores Expeditionary Learning's roots in the educational philosophy of Kurt Hahn. The founder of Outward Bound, Hahn started two schools and numerous educational initiatives. Through storytelling, scholarship, and first-person accounts, this book describes Hahn's schools, his views on service, challenge, adventure, and the belief that students have more in them than they realize.

Restructuring America's Schools

Restructuring America's Schools
Author: Anne Chambers Lewis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1989
Genre: Education
ISBN:
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In 11 chapters, this book objectively looks at school restructuring on the basis of prominent reports on education; materials submitted by local schools and school systems; results from the AASA (American Association of School Administrators) survey; and interviews with local school leaders, prominent reformers, as well as several state and national organization representatives. Chapter 1 defines "restructuring." Chapter 2 examines restructuring within the context of current educational reform literature. Chapter 3 furnishes the philosophical bases of restructuring. Chapter 4 articulates teachers' views toward restructuring. Chapter 5 discusses the role of the business community in the effort to restructure U.S. public education. Chapter 6 describes the role of university involvement in school restructuring. State policies regarding major educational reforms--the subject of Chapter 7--have experienced a restructuring of their own, as they have evolved from proscriptive measures to those that enable school-site change. A discussion of the complexities and impact of school restructuring on school districts is the focus of chapter 8. Chapter 9 centers on the decisionmaking process in the restructuring effort. Chapters 10 and 11 discuss coping with change once restructuring takes place; suggest that the changed work environment requires new ways and means for leaders, supervisors, teaching staff, and students to perform effectively in new surroundings; and offer change strategies to assist school personnel to adapt to restructuring efforts. (JAM)

Schools for the Twenty-first Century

Schools for the Twenty-first Century
Author: California. Department of Education
Publisher: Hippocrene Books
Total Pages: 46
Release: 1990
Genre: School buildings
ISBN:
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Proper planning in the design of new school facilities saves time, money, and resources. The importance of planning increases when funds are scarce, as limited dollars must be put to their best use. A dialogue should be generated in the community and among members of the school planning committee regarding how schools should look. Many questions that must be considered in the construction of new schools and building remodeling are addressed as well as issues and alternatives each district can take into account with its own resources, situation, and philosophy. The first section looks at a hypothetical school containing design elements that are described and discussed in section 2. Section 3 outlines planning steps, specification determination, and planning for quality. Design examples of nine schools, a master plan checklist, and a listing of resources in providing planning assistance are included. (EJS)

New American Schools' Concept of Break-the-mold Designs

New American Schools' Concept of Break-the-mold Designs
Author: Susan J. Bodilly
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2001
Genre: Education
ISBN:
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Business leaders created New American Schools, a private nonprofit corporation, in 1991 to develop break-the-mold designs for schools serving grades K-12. This report documents the significant changes in the designs that have taken place over the initiative’s life span and the reasons for those changes. NAS drove some of the changes in its decisions to fund or not to fund specific designs. The designs themselves changed in terms of their educational components and theories. Finally, the design teams developed implementation strategies and assistance packages over time that resulted in the expansion of the design concept to the concept of design-based assistance. Some of the changes made to designs were beneficial in promoting the concept of a design-based school, especially the development of stronger curriculum packages, clearer descriptions of the designs, and significant work toward assistance for schools to adopt designs. However, concessions to district and state policies led design teams to redefine some design elements, allowing significant local variation and possible incoherence and fragmentation within schools using designs. If this reform is to succeed, policymakers must revitalize it by taking the current environment into account and helping to make it more supportive.

Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement

Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement
Author: Herbert J. Walberg
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2007-08-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1607526522
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(Published in cooperation with The Center on Innovation & Improvement) As suggested by the title, the purpose of this Handbook on Restructuring and Substantial School Improvement is to provide principles for restructuring and substantially improving schools. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the Center on Innovation & Improvement (CII) engaged leading experts on restructuring and school improvement to prepare modules for this handbook to assist states, districts, and schools in establishing policies, procedures, and support to successfully restructure schools. The Handbook is organized into three sections. The topic of the Handbook’s modules – restructuring with a focus on the district as the impetus for dramatic improvement – is relatively new in the nation’s education history. For this reason, the module authors were selected because they are highly experienced experts in their fields and can be counted on to judiciously weigh the less than definitive evidence and to state useful guiding principles.