Describes the use of a committee of teachers and administrators to counsel students with attendance problems at Westfield (New Jersey) High School. Details procedures followed when students continue to violate attendance rules and when they avoid appearing before the committee. A sample of the class absence reporting form is included. (PGD)

Describes a way one principal involved teachers in the selection of a department head, by the appointment of a selection committee. (JM)

Concerned about discrepancies in amount and kind of homework assigned, a Tennessee school district developed some guidelines governing number of homework nights, assignment length, and grading practices. Because it is virtually impossible to require every teacher to carry out identical homework practices, school policies should remain general and…

Describes a Prescriptive Discipline Plan developed by teachers at a Florida middle school. The plan featured three offense categories: minor infractions handled by teachers, intermediate offenses (cheating, disrespect, and insubordination) handled by administrators, and serious offenses (fighting, assault, sexual misconduct) invoking automatic…

Author discussed the efforts to redesign Boys High School, an all-male, academic school located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N. Y. (Author/RK)

To help educators design a balanced curriculum giving students opportunities to master knowledge and use it appropriately, this article explains curriculum design components and framework and provides advice concerning selecting the design, exploring sources, working with the committee, and developing guiding statements. Includes eight references.…

To support concepts such as teacher empowerment, school improvement plans, and site-based decision making, principals must learn how to lead or work with small groups. Each project team must have a champion (usually the principal), assigned members, a name, a district goal, desired outcomes, critical parameters, a time frame, resources, processes,…

Explains the role of senior congressional committee staff members--people recognized as very knowledgeable or influential. Two key limitations: they may be fired at will and must closely represent their bosses' views. Staff members' jobs have four aspects (connecting, collecting, initiating, and implementing) associated with forming national…

After undertaking a study of values education and ethical behavior in fall 1982, the Baltimore County (Maryland) Public Schools formed committees involving more than 2,000 people. Innovative projects involving computer ethics, coaches as role models, academic honesty, and "culture nights" to celebrate the community's ethnic backgrounds…

A curriculum implementation monitoring system should be relatively inexpensive, unburdensome for faculty, and improvement oriented; produce information to guide staff development; and refrain from covertly evaluating teachers. A self-assessment checklist should report teachers' perceptions about degree of implementation, difficulty level, and…

The author presents a questionnaire designed to assist principals in selecting committee chairpersons who will function as effective change leaders. (DS)

Guidelines for avoiding negative side effects of committee work include reasons for forming or not forming a committee, advantages and disadvantages of committees, and questions to help establish a committee in which members understand their role, task, and relationship to the administrator. (MJL)

One Iowa school district has established a credit plan that offers credit to teachers who improve their classroom effectiveness through special projects, local inservice sessions, or workshops. (Author)

Describes an instructional development team approach designed to make secondary reading programs more effective. (Author/JM)

About six years ago, a rural Delaware school district formed a community/staff long-range planning committee to craft a strategic plan that would identify school system values and reallocate resources. As vision and mission statements emerged, technology evolved as a major value, with three goals related to funding and accessibility. Collaborative…