The education profession in Hong Kong has been experiencing waves of educational reforms since the early 1990s. A system of school-based management has been imported from Western countries without undergoing thorough discussion about the roles that teachers might play in facilitating it. The purpose of this article is to suggest a strategic mix…

Describes a four-stage working model for implementing cooperative learning and changing patterns of teachers' behavior based on a model developed over 6 years in 14 secondary schools in Israel. The stages involve learning what to do, learning how to do it, expanding the change process in the school, and institutionalizing the change. (SM)

Describes how the San Diego Unified School District has worked with numerous philanthropic organizations for educational reform and provides suggestions for school districts and foundations interested in working together for public school reform. Provides pertinent information on the foundations that worked with San Diego. (SM)

Describes planning backwards, the Coalition of Essential Schools' educational policymaking strategy for high schools. The article discusses five possible dilemmas in planning backwards: outcomes or exhibitions, local or remote authority, rigid or flexible standards, apartness or authenticity in assessment, and curriculum scaffolds built of courses…

The article discusses the resurgence of school-based community health, mental health, and social services during a period of social upheaval, focusing on improving adolescent health through school-based initiatives. Three appendices describe school-based health service programs in New Jersey and Mississippi. (SM)

Discusses ways teachers could work more effectively with parents to facilitate healthy early adolescent development. After examining the importance of greater parental involvement in children's education, the article describes barriers to parent involvement and summarizes specific ways teachers could try to involve parents who have adolescent…

The United States has no systematic procedure to help secondary students transition from school to employment. That lack most adversely affects poor and minority students. The article examines successful school to work transitioning in Japan and Germany and notes that businesses and governments must recognize their responsibilities in preparing…

Education's main purpose should be to achieve understanding, but such understanding is hard to achieve because educators have little knowledge of how to teach for it and students harbor intellectual habits that inhibit performances of understanding. The article emphasizes that students' access to disciplinary tools is crucial in quality education.…