In attempting to document similarities between effective school practices and the provisions of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142), this report reviews the literature on school effectiveness and relates specific recommendations for classroom and schoolwide practices to those services now mandated for special education…

The booklet covers information on sex education for handicapped students. Program organization topics include gathering background data, determining the specific population, involving parents, determining the curriculum, selecting materials, making staffing decisions, and providing ample teaching time. A curriculum outline lists eight subject…

The newsletter offers guidelines for conducting playdays or large group activities for handicapped students. Among the factors to consider when planning activities are total number participating, levels of physical and mental abilities, age span, sex, and assistance needs. Activities should meet the needs and interest of the students, include a…

This guide discusses starting a project to prevent vandalism and graffiti. It tells students how to get started on a project and suggests some activities young people could organize. These steps are outlined: (1) choose a project; (2) identify resources and make a plan; and (3) recruit and train volunteers. Educating the public is an important…

The term "peer consultation," like the term "teaching," encompasses many methods and strategies. Some confusion about peer consultation (often called "peer coaching") stems from lack of understanding about how these procedures use peers (fellow teachers) as observers, mentors, coaches, or collaborators. To dispel…

The document stresses that planning is essential to introduce arts programs into the schools and provides suggestions for the planning process. Elements of a good planning process include clearly stated goals and objectives, efficient use of existing resources, a survey of local conditions, involvement of influential school officials and community…

Recommendations for implementing school-based management and shared decision making are presented in this educational policy bulletin. Based on a literature review and reported experiences of educational practitioners, four recommendations include: transformation of authority at district and school site levels; development of a systemwide…

Two distinct school improvement efforts have been undertaken simultaneously in Washington State's North Kitsap School District. One effort focuses on achieving articulation of the curriculum throughout the district's four elementary schools, middle school, and high school. A needs assessment survey revealed that even within individual schools…

This resource bulletin focuses on Student Team Learning and Learning Together as practiced in secondary schools. Student Team Learning involves both cooperation and competition. It emphasizes the three ideas of cooperative activity structure (success in the task requires contributions from all members); cooperative reward structure (group members…

Over the past few years, charter schools have received dramatic popular support. An overview of charter schools, including the arguments of their supporters and critics, is presented in this report. The text presents assumptions about the charter movement and discusses their strengths and weaknesses through a research-based synthesis. Advocates of…

An overview of school-based management (SBM) and the issues involved are provided in this document. Information is offered on the following topics: the advantages and liabilities of SBM; its effect on the roles of the school board, superintendent, and district office; decision-making processes; elements of SBM implementation; examples of three…

Findings of three studies that investigated the extent of school restructuring in American schools are presented in this paper. The data are combined from three different sources: (1) a national survey of 268 schools nominated for their successful restructuring programs; (2) a survey of 100 restructuring proposals submitted to a funding…

This newsletter issue focuses on the subject of mandatory testing of prospective teachers prior to certification. The following questions are discussed: (1) What are the major types of teacher tests? (2) How prevalent are teacher tests? (3) What are the major teacher tests? (4) What problems do teacher testing programs address? (5) What are the…

Site-based management (SBM) gives teachers, principals, and communities a method for directly affecting and improving their schools. This newsletter describes some of the advantages of SBM, which can result in greater accountability for student learning and an increased opportunity for parents, teachers, students, and business. The greatest…

Educators, business and government leaders in the public sector are attempting to provide a kind of comprehensive, effective education for all students by designing a new approach to education which will: (1) eliminate the educationally embarrassing general education track which leads students into an academic and vocational dead end; (2) improve…