The "Leading Trauma-Sensitive Schools" online module is designed for school and district administrators and other school staff helping to lead efforts to adopt a trauma-sensitive approach schoolwide. The module and companion action guide outline a multi-phased process for adopting a trauma-sensitive approach, including how and when to…

The "Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools" online module is intended for all school personnel, including administrators, instructional staff, and non-instructional staff. The module familiarizes school staff with the concept of trauma sensitivity and includes examples of trauma-sensitive strategies that can be employed schoolwide.…

Developing positive school climates and improving school discipline policies and practices are critical steps to raising academic achievement and supporting student success. However, there is no single formula for doing so. Rather, the growing body of research and best practices in the field should inform locally developed approaches to improving…

Students who are in foster care need principals who are informed about policy, aware of their needs, and willing to be advocates for them. Multiple school placements often result in significant gaps in the education of students in foster care. If they also have disabilities, they may lose special programs and services when they change placements.…

"The Learning System" is a newsletter designed for superintendents and central office staff with professional learning responsibilities. This issue includes: (1) Principal-Coaches Transform Teachers and Schools (Valerie von Frank); (2) District Leadership: Delve into NSDC's [National Staff Development Council's] New Definition of…

Identifies educational management issues (staff management, professional-parent relationships, institutional effectiveness, the management/policy interface, and the role of the British Educational Management and Administration Society), considers current attitudes and practices, and proposes future directions. Stresses career development and…

It is abundantly clear that increasingly complex, diverse, technological middle level schools require educators to take on new roles. Change is the only constant, and as a result there is a huge chasm between what middle level teachers experienced as students themselves and as preservice teachers and the exigencies and realities of middle level…

In this annotated bibliography of 12 publications on school climate are 3 entries that suggest specific ways to improve the school climate and 1 that outlines leadership techniques for principals. Ways to assess school climate are covered by a review of assessment instruments, a discussion of the measurement issues, a description of major…

Discusses the use of coaching to establish a communal learning effort among teachers and reinforce skills introduced through inservice. Issues examined include the length of coaching, who should coach, training coaches, coaching's effects, the relationships of evaluation and supervision to coaching, the principal's role, and implementation. (MCG)

Activities in three of eight school districts that linked testing and evaluation data with instructional decision-making matched the seven components of management information systems. Each district had a unique system that focused, respectively, on student achievement, school improvement, and staff capacity building. (MLF)

This study explored the relationship between costs and benefits of supported (inclusionary) education practices as implemented in 10 schools in 9 Oregon school districts. Specifically, results are presented from a series of interviews conducted with special education directors and principals. Interviews explored administrators' perceptions…

This study focused on process measures to identify the major components of elementary school climate and to test the effectiveness of an intervention emphasizing the work of the principal. Nine schools of diverse size and in several locations in British Columbia formed the sample. Data included surveys of parents and teachers, interviews of…

Research findings, supported by other research projects, identify the elements relevant to school improvement as school focus, school autonomy, and staff development. A chart based on three recent major literature reviews provides a comprehensive listing of supportable assertions regarding unusually effective institutions. (MLF)

The union of thought and feeling, the basis of the concept of "thoughtfulness," is one of the major themes of this book, which is designed to help teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and parents empower students to take more control of their own education and lives. It presents strategies for teaching students about the nature…

Recommendations are offered to help administrators successfully implement mastery learning (ML). It is stated that: (1) ML requires watching both the achievement and satisfaction of learners; (2) consideration of teachers' knowledge and attitudes when training them in ML principles is critical; (3) a high level of skill and commitment is required…