Describes how a doctoral studies reform initiative was conducted at the University of Kentucky. Funded by a Danforth grant, the new educational administration program stresses school leadership and educational reform and was inspired by demand for distance learning technology, the Kentucky Education Reform Act, and an opportunity for hiring new…

This article shares findings from an exploratory case study about an advanced leadership development program for administrator-certified practitioners in a Central Appalachian school district. The goal of the Principals Excellence Program, one of 24 projects supported by federal funds through the No Child Left Behind School Leadership Development…

Uses Blau and Scott concept of "cui bono" to describe who has benefited from 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act. In eyes of legislators, everyone would benefit, and the economically depressed state would prosper. As implementation of KERA progresses, it is becoming increasingly clear that mandated changes may be structural and may…

Public education in Kentucky schools was fundamentally changed in 1990 with the passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). This educational reform--mandated by the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that funding for Kentucky public school districts was neither adequate nor equitably distributed--established a platform on which standards-based…

This paper describes Louisville, Kentucky's Community Accountability Team (CAT), which promoted parent and citizen involvement in school reform. It was unique to the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), a large, urban district, and represented a strategy in a rapidly building national movement to make education more transparent and accountable…

Following the legislature's passage of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act, the statewide Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership was established. The 700 graduates form a small cadre of activists who are informed about standards-based reforms and how to make them work for their children. (MLH)

Discusses the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 and the role of school library media specialists. Focuses on principals' perceptions of media specialists in five categories: information literacy; collaboration, leadership, and technology; learning and teaching; information access and delivery; and program administration; and suggests that…

Advantages of multiage classrooms include improvements in student self-concept, attitudes toward school, leadership, and social skills; reduced discipline problems; and individualized instruction. Implementation problems include entrenched teacher attitudes, including overdependence on textbooks, and the extra teacher training and planning time…

This paper discusses Kentucky School Reform and its impact on higher education; how Alice Lloyd College engages with teaching practitioners to address their needs through service learning and service leadership development; and potential applications of the program in other institutions. The paper recommends that future service learning ventures:…

Under the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) is the provision that creates school councils and delegates to them the authority to make important educational decisions to improve student performance. This paper describes findings from the third year of a 5-year study of SBDM that focused on early examples of…

Little research has investigated the effects of school restructuring on the roles of central office administrators, particularly the superintendent. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the perceptions of superintendents in Kentucky, whose State Legislature passed a statewide systemic reform initiative, the Kentucky Education…

In 1988 the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld a previous decision that the state public education system had failed to provide an efficient system of common schools. The Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA, 1990) came from this decision. This paper reviews the restructuring of a primary school under the KERA, focusing on one collaborative effort…

This paper describes the Kentucky Department of Education's (KDE's) multi-faceted approach to professional development and provides evidence for its impact on schools' achievement of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) goals. Data are drawn from the exemplary case study component of a larger research project. Many Kentucky school districts…

This research examined how three elementary school principals conceptualized within the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 the development of teacher leaders. Two major criteria were used to select these principals: (a) their schools had continuous student achievement for three consecutive biennia despite high levels of student poverty;…

Kentucky high schools are attempting to address requirements of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). This study was conducted to collect and interpret data related to the implementation of high school restructuring and make recommendations. Thirty-three schools were invited to participate based on categories of restructuring,…