Introduction: Observations on Initiatives, Contexts, and Issues.

Criticisms of schools and calls for reform have been continuous since the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk.(1) Although prescriptions for change have differed, policymakers have asserted that fundamental school reform is possible and must include both legislative and structural changes.

The belief in the possibility of change has stimulated Herculean efforts at "reforms that are far more extensive and complex than ever before,"(2) usually focusing on the larger system of education. This systemic approach represents a fundamental rethinking of the education system. It ...

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