Recent developments in cognitive anthropology, in particular the development of ethnographic semantics, make ethnographic methods more systematic. The goal is to replace intuition with an operationally explicit methodology for discerning how people construe their world of experience from the way they talk about it. The first part of this paper…

The School Improvement Project of the Institute for the Development of Educational Activities, first instituted in 1980, offers high schools a method for selecting and implementing recommended changes from among the many proposed in recent reports on high school improvement. (JBM)

John Goodlad and his associates have produced a report that provides a more comprehensive basis for understanding United States schools than any previously published. (Author/JM)

Presents a critical rejoinder to Stedman's article that dismisses the validity of school effectiveness guidelines. Stedman has misused school effectiveness research findings, for the data actually support these characteristics. Stedman's generalized alternatives lack adequate supportive evidence. (CJH)

This lecture seeks to (1) discuss the nature of resistance to the notion that Britain is a multicultural society, locating this resistance in the defence of an outdated view of the British national identity; (2) present some evidence of White pupil's negative views of minorities; and (3) identify aims and characteristics of effective schools in a…

The purpose of this study is to examine two large scale in-service training programs concerning Sweden's local school development. Specifically reports on relationship between centrally-introduced school reforms and response of local school management to those reforms. (BSR)

Focuses on principals as change facilitators, on other staff members who facilitate school improvement ("second change facilitators" and on what these two groups do together and separately. Concludes with considerations for policy making, for training of all school improvement leadership personnel and for future lines of study into facilitating…

Recent studies by the University of Texas Research and Development Center for Teacher Education, based on visits to 22 high schools across the nation, suggest that high schools are better than they are usually portrayed as being. If current efforts to improve them are to succeed, however, clearer change strategies are needed. (JBM)

Asserts that the widely cited set of characteristics of effective schools cannot be substantiated. The lack of research supporting the formula raises questions about school effectiveness programs. Recommends a synthesis of approaches that meet a school's needs and include a broader political agenda. (CJH)

Examines how public confidence in the U.S. school system has fluctuated during the 1970s and 1980s. Describing U.S. high schools as underachievers, Westbury compares them to the schools of other nations. Acknowledges past achievements of high schools, but argues that they should not provide a blueprint for the future. (GEA)

Although data for the effective schools movement was largely derived from research on elementary schools, practitioners have increasingly attempted to implement similar programs in high schools. Because of differences between elementary schools and high schools in program implementation, effectiveness criteria, and other considerations, such…

Research indicates that principals who have clear goals for their schools, provide active, visible leadership, and closely monitor the school's progress in accomplishing the expected improvement, are consistently assessed as more effective, regardless of the criteria for judging. The article stresses the need to distinguish between principal style…

A preliminary analysis of three effective schools projects in Wisconsin and New York shows general improvement, especially in school climate and basic skills teaching. Administrative support included district, central office, and higher education personnel for staff development. Successful implementation can result in substantial immediate…

Drawing on hypotheses inferred from survey findings concerning principals' attitudes toward community involvement in the schools, the author suggests using principals' support of teacher autonomy and principals' encouragement of community involvement as the two dimensions of a model of school-community relations. (PGD)

This article reports the findings of a research project on public and private high schools in the United States. The principal researchers found that Catholic schools and non-Catholic private schools are more effective than public schools in helping students to acquire cognitive skills. (SSH)