With the increasing diversity in schools and the call for addressing specific regional needs, decentralized regulation of the education system is often proposed as an alternative approach to achieve school improvement. Researchers have often associated experimentation and risk-taking as key aspects of effective educational leadership while…

Summarizes five articles in this special issue focusing on the report by the National Commission on Excellence in Education entitled "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform." Also discusses briefly the reforms mentioned in several recent reports on the quality of schooling in America. (CB)

Describes the history, recommendations, and impact of "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform," the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Discusses broad recommendations regarding the curriculum; standards and expectations for students; time devoted to learning; the status of the teaching…

Discusses the 1983 "A Nation at Risk" report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education in terms of the history of schooling in the U.S. from the late 1890s to the present. Questions the materialistic emphasis of the commission's definitions of the purposes of education and of the "national interest." (CB)