Restructuring is the latest educational reform initiative in the nation. The "first wave" of educational reform began in 1983 with the publication of A Nation at Risk, which resulted in top-down, state-initiated reforms that raised standards in order to emphasize educational excellence. The "second wave" of reform began three years later with the publication of the Carnegie report, A Nation Prepared, which proclaimed the need for a restructuring of the basic educational system itself. In 1989, Florida became the first state in the nation to have a state-level policy specifically aimed at school restructuring, the District School Site Restructuring Incentives Program. / This historical study recounts the issues and events surrounding the development, implementation, and effectual end of this bill, beginning with the 1988 Professional Educators Act and concluding with the Accountability Act of 1991. Most of the information was gathered from personal interviews with state-level policy actors, legislative committee files, and personal correspondence from the files of FEA/United, the teachers union which effectually sponsored the bill. / The District School Site Restructuring Incentives Program was an optional bill whereby districts could apply for state grant money to implement a district-level restructuring plan. The plans were reviewed by an advisory committee consisting of one representative each from the four major state educational lobbies. The committee gave districts much flexibility to design and implement their plans, believing that it couldn't mandate bottom-up reforms. However, district plans were generally "weak" and revealed that much training was needed. / The Accountability Act of 1991 was designed to speed up the process of district restructuring, but it adopted a different methodology of implementation which mandated timelines and performance standards. The bill was strongly contested by FEA/United, which believed that progress toward district restructuring would all but cease under the new Accountability act. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0687. / Major Professor: James Robarts. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76620 |
| Contributors | Wenzel, Lawrence John., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 213 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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