Bold Plans for School Restructuring: The New American Schools Designs

Two powerful forces are driving American's demands for better schools -- one longstanding force is idealistic and the other is "new" and economic. The current group of young Americans is in danger of being the first full generation to consistently make less money and enjoy fewer worldly rewards than their parents. The intersection of idealistic and pragmatic forces has produced an era of calls for reform in U.S. education that is unparalleled -- calls that have resulted in the creation of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC). The chapters in this book highlight the path traveled by NASDC -- a private, non-profit corporation charged with creating new, "break the mold" school designs for the 21st century -- and describes the first three years' accomplishments of nine NASDC development teams.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Acknowledgments. S. Stringfield, S. Ross, L. Smith, Introduction: Bold Plans for School Restructuring: Nine Designs from New American Schools. D.T. Kearns, J.L. Anderson, Sharing the Vision: Creating New American Schools. A. Cohen, J. Jordan, The Audrey Cohen College System of Education(R): Purpose-Centered Education. C.J. Orrell, ATLAS Communities: Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment for All Students. B. Goldberg, J. Richards, The Co-NECT Design for School Change. M. Campbell, E. Cousins, G. Farrell, M. Kamii, D. Lam, L. Rugen, D. Udall, The Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Design. R. Heady, S. Kilgore, The Modern Red Schoolhouse. R. Rothman, Reformat All Levels: National Alliance for Restructuring Education. R.E. Slavin, N.A. Madden, B.A. Wasik, Roots and Wings: Universal Excellence in Elementary Education. W.B. Jennings, Community Learning Centers. J. Johnson, J. McDonald, Los Angeles Learning Centers: An Initiative of Los Angeles Unified School District, United Teachers Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Educational Partnership. S. Bodilly, Lessons Learned: RAND's Formative Assessment of NAS's Phase 2 Demonstration Effort. Appendix: Contact Information for New American Schools and the Design Teams.

About the Author :
Lana Smith, Samuel C. Stringfield, Steven M. Ross

Review :
"The book provides a survey of the best practice at the cutting edge of education. The ability to compare and contrast the nine designs' implementation of technology is valuable. The successes and failures presented provide rich insight." —Science Books & Films "This book is a good foundational read for an understanding of both the workings of NAS schools and the thoughts and beliefs of design team members." —Harvard Educational Review "Bold Plans for School Restructuring offers an excellent addition to the literature on school reform. The contents would be of interest to clinical and child psychologists who work with children and youth, organizational psychologists concerned with the structure and function of systems, human factors psychologists with expertise in the effects of organization and change on individuals, and educational psychologists working in kindergarten--12th-grade education." —Contemporary Psychology