Describes a successful program for granting recognition to students who excel at leadership. (IRT)

Describes a program promoting academic achievement through quiz competitions between schools in Virginia. Includes descriptions of other programs promoting academic achievement. (MD)

Academic competitions have the goal of spurring students to excellence through public recognition of their achievements. Some of the better known international, national, and local academic competitions are described. (Author/MLF)

Lists 24 other notable books published in the past year, highlighting the year's 10 must-read books (MLF)

A school board member in Gilman, Wisconsin, started a literary awards program to improve student writing. Students compete for prizes, and at the end of each year the winning entries are published in a literary magazine. (MLF)

Reviews 12 books about schools including 3 about school reform and 2 each on technology in education and gender discrimination. Other subjects are historically black schools, strategies for at-risk children, total quality management for school boards, and children in poverty and neighborhood organizations that have helped them. Highlights six…

A broad outline is provided of 12 of the basics that form the framework for any successful school antidrug program. Each one is illustrated by case studies culled from the 47 programs that received the United States Department of Education's second annual drug-free school recognition award (1988-89). (MLF)

Conflicting policies, careless recordkeeping, and racial tension added up in turmoil for the Newton County (Georgia) Board of Education when an African-American student and a white student each claimed the honor of being class valedictorian. (MLF)

Jefferson County (Colorado), because of an elementary school science program and a junior high school applied program, was among the six school systems honored by the National Science Teachers Association for exemplary science programs. Specific characteristics of the Colorado programs, and those common to all successful science programs, are…

A two-year preschool and kindergarten sequence is conducted on a full-day schedule with five-year-olds attending school three days a week and four-year-olds attending the alternate days, both groups with the same teachers. The program was recognized for excellence in curriculum development. (MLF)

An Illinois school district describes seven ways it has successfully encouraged parent participation at school events. (MD)

Proposes an Achieving Students' Program that would combine student performance on a national achievement examination with monetary rewards from prospective employers. (MLF)

Brief reviews of the 10 must-reads for school leaders, selected by editors from all the books reviewed in this issue. (MLF)

To determine 1999 Magna Award winners, judges looked for successful programs that were developed or actively supported by school boards, essential in promoting the district's mission and advancing student learning, bold and creative, and capable of being replicated. The grand prize winner was Hartford (Connecticut) Public Schools' extended-day…

A school-district audit in Florida highlights the stellar program and results at Polk County's Inwood Elementary School. Principal Sue Buckner demands that parents, stepparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and neighbors participate in Inwood's success. A sidebar summarizes the audit procedures and findings. (MLF)