As funding cuts require schools to do more with less, one main concern is how to continue high-quality learning. That's an ever more difficult proposition where students who have any of a variety of learning difficulties are involved. In such situations an educational therapist can be helpful. Educational therapy is an emerging discipline and…

Good times are not just around the corner. Rather, at least for the next half-decade, educators are facing what Secretary Duncan has termed the "new normal." After three generations in which national, nominal per pupil spending went up every single year, learning to operate in an environment of flat or declining spending is a new challenge for…

Schools face the dual challenge of tighter education budgets and demands to raise achievement levels. Can this be done? The author argues that it can and has been achieved. The successful districts in some cases have transformed their strategic approach by focusing on costs; developing a new, more powerful school vision; identifying and allocating…

The largest issue for schools is not extending the school day or year--as useful as those policies might be--but of meeting time requirements within the constraints of the budgets and personnel given them. Policy makers rarely understand how their policies impact practice. Author Marilyn Crawford suggests a policy-talks-to-practice strategy that…

One of the most important strategies for stopping school decline is recognizing its signs early on and promptly applying appropriate interventions. In this article, the author identifies 11 indicators of school decline that are associated with inadequate and inappropriate responses to the challenges of budget cuts, state and federal mandates, loss…

Describes the conditions leading up to passage of Proposition 2 1/2 and how the Natick public school district adapted to a 15 percent reduction in its budget. (WD)

Recounts the less obvious deleterious impact that Proposition 13 has had on education in California. (IRT)

Highlights the findings of a study by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development on the effects of declining enrollment on instructional and supervisory programs, reviews the ramifications of P.L. 94-142, and suggests new instructional arrangements for coping with an era of retrenchment. (Author/WD)

Presents descriptions of the methods and findings of four surveys conducted recently in education on (1) stress among university faculty members, (2) special education in teacher education programs, (3) teachers' and students' views on discipline, and (4) budgetary cuts in teacher education. (JBM)

Reviews what school districts are doing to cope with reduced enrollments and increased costs. Areas covered include shared facilities, reduction in force, and school closing. (IRT)

Outlines current ways the National Institute of Education is developing its leadership role during the 1980s. The greatest challenge is to operate creatively with limited resources. (MD)

To cope with declining high school enrollments, administrators can find new clients, programs, and functions or can cut back by dropping "frills" or closing schools. Guidelines for cuts include three approaches: the rational, cutting the least effective programs; the political, acknowledging political realities; and the symbolic,…

A 1979 study of 200 randomly chosen teachers in grades K-12 in southeastern Michigan revealed that the teachers are less satisfied with the quality of their worklives, more fearful of losing their jobs, and more likely to experience problems with their jobs than are U.S. workers nationwide. (Author/WD)

Funding cutbacks affecting San Jose (California) High School have severely reduced the school personnel adequately prepared for educating in the inner city. Concentration on legally required basics has forced elimination of classes and programs appealing to student interests and needs, leading to disciplinary and attendance problems. (PGD)

In the first of two articles, the author examines the effects of abundance on the American character, the role of the schools in a society of abundance, and the chilling effect of declining resources on both society and schools. (Author)