A mainstay in NCLB and the Obama administration education plan is turning around low-performing schools. This study utilized surveys and interviews with school leaders from four turnaround urban high schools in Texas to understand student outcomes before and after school restructuring and reconstitution. Although some organizational changes were…

"Turnaround" strategies of educational reform promise that school closure, reconstitution, privatizing, and reopening them will bring miraculous results. Questioning the implications, this article situates "turnaround" strategies locally, following the closure of a predominantly minority high school in 2008, in Austin, Texas.…

This longitudinal study of middle school science teachers explored if a teacher participation in the TPD program resulted in change in instructional practice as well as a significant increase in student learning. Four participating schools were matched and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Teacher and student outcomes were…

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of 35 Swedish comprehensive schools involving interviews with teachers, school leaders, students, and parents carried out in 1980, 1982, 1985, and 2001. During the 35-year period covered by the study, the schools experienced significant reforms. The most important of these reforms involved a…

The ills of urban schools are well documented. The challenges of recruiting and retaining quality teachers, student mobility, poor conditions of school facilitates, and lack of parent involvement are only a few of the issues related to urban schools. Large comprehensive high schools are a staple of many urban school districts. This model of…

Investigated the causes of school failure from a student perspective through interviews with 40 urban high school students experiencing academic difficulties. Findings magnify issues of power, resistance, and diversity as they are linked to patterns of student achievement urban schools must address before advancing specific restructuring efforts.…

Analyzes trends in educational reforms in the context of conflicting needs for both educational excellence and equal access to education. Discusses the difficulty of balancing these demands in the preparation of school personnel and in school reform through choice programs. (FMW)

Argues that an appropriate reform agenda for urban school districts would require reform characterized by the design of client-centered, authentic respectful organizations that build from the needs and interests of students, rather than the convenience of employers or conventions of traditional schooling. (SLD)

What urban middle school principals engaged in school reform felt they needed to know and the strategies that maximize their learning were studied with 23 principals involved in extended professional development. Principals valued the components of staff development that have been supported by the National Staff Development Council. (SLD)

Using data from over 75 interviews, examines education reform in Detroit (Michigan) and explores the apparent collapse of a local education reform effort in spite of broad dissatisfaction with the current education system. Findings indicate that some long-term institutional impact of the reform remains. (SLD)

Describes the Yale School Development Program, which has been successful in improving urban schools because of its emphasis on systemic change, child development, and parent involvement. The program is a nine-element process model of three mechanisms, three operations, and three guidelines that replaces traditional organization and management.…

Discusses the consequences for school reform inherent in the relationships between schools and the institutional actors with whom they are linked in the restructuring efforts. The article describes the experiences of two elementary schools in a collaborative restructuring effort that raises questions about what is involved in building a school's…

Describes the role and successes of locally-based public education funds. These nonprofit public/private partnerships, linked by the Public Education Fund Network in Washington, DC, are active in more than 60 U.S. cities, having moved beyond their initial efforts to whole-school change and involvement in critical policy questions. (SLD)

Offers a framework, based on research from Philadelphia high schools, that illustrates the vision and labor necessary to make urban school reform both systemic and doable. Three tasks are identified and described: building community; generating knowledge about change; and reinventing curriculum. These tasks are viewed as encompassing the work of…

Argues against the Bush administration's school choice proposal from historical and sociocultural perspectives. The Bush approach to education reform espouses educational excellence without addressing needs of children who are at risk of school failure. Equity for minority groups has never occurred as a by-product of a focus on excellence. (SLD)