The Department of Defense is the only government entity serving more meals daily than New York City public schools, which operates a meal program with a rich history of both progress and regress. This story of New York City school meals is one that shows both local action and inputs of the federal government. A landmark policy change in 2017…

One of the core priorities of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), articulated in its most recent strategic plan, focuses on educator capacity. In 2012, BESE passed new program approval standards for educator preparation programs across the state. The standards ushered in new expectations for the 80 sponsoring…

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the ways schools and other youth-serving agencies are operating. To prevent the continued spread of the virus, many schools and agencies have moved to virtual only or hybrid virtual/in-person activities. Along with adapting many other activities, schools and agencies' approaches to bullying…

Child health is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach to address the many factors that influence it and are influenced by it. In light of the complexity of children's health, the Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) was developed as a framework for a systems approach to planning and implementing school-based children's health…

Strong anti-bullying policies are foundational to effective bullying prevention. The Youth Bullying Prevention Act of 2012 (YBPA; DC Law L19-167) is among the most comprehensive bullying prevention policies across the United States and its territories. The law and its implementing regulations require all schools and youth-serving agencies…

The process of strategic planning wears out institutions. Strategic planning, pursued with high purpose and energy, is enervating and exhausting. In this article, the author describes the value-added work of trustees in high-performing boards and discusses the role boards of trustees play as the process of continuous strategic planning unfolds.…

The Equal Access Act of 1984 was drafted to implement access for religious clubs to public secondary schools, but with constitutionally protected safeguards to preclude entanglement of church and state. A number of challenges were made on the constitutional grounds of excessive entanglement of church and state, as well as what the definition of…

The school review model is used by the Metropolitan Separate School Board of Toronto (Ontario) to determine, in a positive and supportive manner, the extent to which policies, procedures, and practices have been implemented in the local schools to achieve the Board's goals and objectives. The following areas are reviewed: (1) the Catholic school…

The Duluth (Minnesota) Public Schools have used participative management in various forms for several years, involving staff members in district level budgeting, school level budgeting and objective setting, and providing advice on a variety of issues. In 1984, the school board established participative management as a consistent, permanent…

"Managing Reading By Objectives" (MRBO), the Beaverton (Oregon) School District's reading instruction system--based on learning objectives shared among parents, students, teachers, and administrators--is described through summaries, articles, diagrams, and policy statements. This compilation includes (1) an information sheet; (2) a flow…

The mission, philosophy, and goals of the Fountain Valley School District (California) and their implementation in the areas of curriculum and evaluation and assessment, are detailed in this report, which is the result of an organizational self-study in order to improve the quality of the district's instructional and managerial services. Specific…

The Secondary Student Progress Plan aims to provide uniform educational expectations for successful course completion and progress toward graduation beginning with grade 7 in school year 1984-85. Arranged in outline form, the plan shows the course of study for grades 7-12, guidelines for evaluating and reporting student progress, promotion…

This report summarizes the findings of a national study of how desegregated school districts use staff development to prepare for desegregation. Data were collected in a series of field visits to sixteen desegregated school districts varying in size, ethnic composition, and geographic location. Three aspects of staff development were studied: the…

Despite consensus on the administrative reforms needed in school effectiveness programs, policy problems are raised when administrators and school boards want to translate research findings on school improvement into practical terms. Although school systems are now using a number of organizational tools that lift standardized test scores (for…

This program manual is for a four-school elementary bilingual education program in Tucson that aims at developing proficiency in the basic skills of the native language and transferring these skills to the second language. The following information is included in narrative and outline form: (1) goals; (2) program description; (3) overview of…