Structural Reform and Educational Practice

I magine a school that embodies many of the remedies currently advocated by educational reformers: The school is governed by a site-based council, composed of teachers, administrators, parents, and community members. The principal of the school reports regularly to the council on the progress of reform within the school and the council makes major decisions about the allocation of funds to activities within the school and the evaluation and hiring of personnel. Groups of teachers work together on a range of projects, including planning of common activities across groups and grades, development of curriculum units, and professional development to enhance their skills. Groups of teachers also exercise control over discretionary resources that can be used to purchase new supplies and materials. On their own initiative, and with the cooperation of the principal and the endorsement of the site council, teachers have organized themselves and their students into multiage teams, so that students move flexibly among teachers within a team and are grouped according to their needs in a given subject. The planning time necessary for teachers to work in teams and to engage in curriculum development is created by coordinating teacher planning times, scheduling art and physical education so as to release teachers from regular classroom duties, and by shortening the school day by an hour once a week.