PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative (142)

This paper examines Breaking Ranks, a proposal for school reform and restructuring intended to improve the effectiveness of America's high schools. The review drew upon memo writing, a personal interview with an administrator utilizing the Breaking Ranks blueprint, a review of periodicals and books on Breaking Ranks and on school restructuring, a synthesis of data collected from school-restructuring studies, and a comparison of the literature of high-school restructuring efforts. The report discusses: (1) the adoption of Breaking Ranks in one high school and how this reform effort influenced professional culture; (2) the alignment among program offerings, pedagogy, and curriculum; (3) and leadership. Findings indicate that Breaking Ranks and other reform programs all focus on student achievement and visionary leadership that is collaborative and has the capacity to involve others. Breaking Ranks, like other school-restructuring movements, also exhibits some weaknesses: recommendations are conceptual in design and not operational, so no specific or coherent plan exists; costs and the allocation of resources for implementation are not addressed; tracking is difficult because everything must be sorted, discussed, and embodied in teacher actions before it reaches the student; data supporting change initiatives are not defined; and the basic systemic structure of the school does not change. (Contains 20 references.) (RJM) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document.