This information brief describes problems involved in scheduling elementary-school specialist teachers and offers suggestions for resolving them. Poor scheduling results in fragmented classes, unequal distribution of instructional time, and lack of common planning time. Poor scheduling is usually due to lack of congruence between school mission…

This collection of six papers on planning for effective foreign language education in the 1980s includes the following titles: (1) "Imperatives for the Eighties," by June K. Phillips; (2) "Profiles and Perspectives," by Pamela J. Myers; (3) "Second Language Experiences for Everyone," by Carol A. Herron; (4) "Special Curricula for Special Needs,"…

The "ERIC Review" announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue focuses on school safety and violence prevention. An introductory section includes two articles: "How Safe Is My Child's School?" (Kevin Mitchell) and "Making America's Schools Safer" (U.S.…

Planning for the future of vocational education should center around both external and internal perspectives. Planning for change should be based on the implications of the broadest societal issues as they evolve over the coming years. Accordingly, vocational programs need to be carefully reviewed to make certain students are being prepared to…

Centennial High School in Gresham, Oregon, was one of three pilot schools selected in 1983 to use a research-based school improvement process developed by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. In the process, the local school establishes a leadership team to manage school improvement, collects data on student performance, uses the data to…

Designed to facilitate the dissemination of information and sharing of experiences among countries in Asia and the Pacific, this annual publication includes special reports, reviews of recent publications and studies, and notes on Asian documents and sources of documents concerned with recent trends in educational development, reforms and renewal,…

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…

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…

In this paper, one of a series of Unesco technical reports, the author examines the idea of "technical cooperation among developing countries" (TCDC) and how it might lead to a "new international economic order" (NIEO). The first part of the paper contains a short history of TCDC. TCDC is seen by many as a self-help cooperative…

Declining enrollment forces school districts to cope with many new problems, but also opens the door to new opportunities. A review of the implications of enrollment decline provides deeper understanding of both the problems and the opportunities. Among the major concerns are the disruptions caused by school closures, the new emphases required in…

A newsletter provides a discussion of 20 years of work by Sweden's Research on Higher Education Program. Information is presented as follows: growth to an autonomous research council; from contracted research to a research community; themes of the studies (focusing on higher education and society, the research function, the educational function of…

This document consists of three issues of NCR Parameters (January, May, and September 1999), a newsletter published by the National Council for Research and Planning to highlight research and planning concerns at two-year postsecondary educational institutions. These three issues focus on: (1) "Multidimensional Planning," (January, 1999)…

The three issues of this 1997 research brief provide information about institutional programming and planning at St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) (Florida). Brief number 1 summarizes the 1996 Enrolled Student Survey and contains sections on student demographics, student satisfaction ratings, and open-ended questions about academic and support…

Three articles on assessment in higher education include the following: "More Savvy, Good Signs, Next Steps: A Report on the Third National Conference on Assessment in Higher Education," by Pat Hutchings, on tapping expert judgment, getting students invested, and deepening understanding; "Perspectives on General Education and Its…

The "Instructional Improvement Digest" communicates advisory information about practical courses of action that can be implemented by teachers and administrators to improve key areas of school instruction. The series digest topics draws upon inquiry associated with the Southwest Regional Laboratory for Educational Research and Development's…