THE USES OF TEACHER POWER IN INFLUENCING THE WORK CONDITIONS, REWARDS, AND ACTIVITIES OF TEACHERS ARE DISCUSSED. THE STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, AND APPROPRIATE USES OF VARIOUS TACTICS FOR THE EXERCISE OF THIS POWER ARE DESCRIBED. PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO SANCTIONS, STRIKES, INJUNCTIONS, AND MASS RESIGNATIONS. PICKETING, SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS,…

The decade of the 1960's witnessed an ever-increasing demand by members of the teaching profession for a greater voice in the determination of policies affecting the educational system. Teachers pressed for a more active role in what previously had been considered an administrative function. For this investigation of Oregon educator attitudes…

Teachers' perceptions of power to influence curriculum policy were surveyed over 120 teachers in three suburban school districts of varying socioeconomic levels. Results suggested insecurity among teachers as they perceived themselves subject to sanctions by school superintendents and school boards. (Author/GSK)

A revised system was developed for documenting the rights restrictions of persons with mental retardation at a state residential facility. The system included a new form, response effort reduction, inservice training for staff, and staff feedback. Results showed an immediate and sustained reduction in documentation errors of 96 direct-care and…

Although its remote origins can be traced to the end of prohibition with the repeal of the Volstead Act in 1933, the nation's "war on drugs" gathered massive strength in the early days of the Reagan administration. During the 1980s and 1990s, the decision of the nation, expressed through its legislators, seemed to be to "criminalize" drug use or…

Calls for accountability in America's schools have created increased responsibilities for educational leaders. In this article, we describe and discuss a study of elementary, middle, and high school principals' perceptions of the state-wide educational accountability program in North Carolina. The respondents indicated that the state's…

This digest organizes the complex and interrelated issues concerned with student discipline into four questions, and suggests ways in which colleges and universities can deal with the issues raised. In answering the first question about what might be a proper role for institutions to play in student discipline, it suggests that an appropriate…

This report discusses the need for an alcohol and drug use prevention program at the University of Michigan and presents findings from a task force that was established to investigate the problem of student alcohol and other drug use and identify areas where priority should be given for action. The opening section of the report presents the…

Hispanics--affected more than any other ethnic group by immigration laws--have a profound interest in the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The National Council of La Raza holds the following views: (1) the proposed regulations implementing the Act are unacceptable; (2) the capacity and resources necessary for…

This study analyzes the patterns of 40 teacher strikes between 1955 and 1965 by looking at (1) the issues and demands and (2) the outcomes and settlements. It is hypothesized that (1) teacher strikes fall into discernible patterns, (2) functional relationships exist between certain strike issues and outcomes and the strike itself, (3) strikes can…

Policymakers are exploring whether schools should be allocated state funds as rewards for improving student achievement and other performance indicators. Team-based rewards specified in 14 states' statutes represent a limited form of performance-based school finance. This article examines financial rewards in four states and makes policy…

By the spring of 2000, forty states had begun using student test scores to rate school performance. Twenty states have gone a step further and are attaching explicit monetary rewards or sanctions to a school's test performance. In this paper, the authors focus on accountability programs in which states measure the effectiveness of individual…

In this article the author discusses the communicative encounters--oral and written--between members of two discourse communities--human resources (HR) and faculty--housed within an urban university in the Northeast. The author focuses on one individual's attempts to articulate and impose a component of her community's implicit rules for behavior…

In the wake of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, localities across the United States initiated public information campaigns both to raise awareness of threats to air quality and to change behavior related to air pollution by recommending specific behavioral changes in the campaign messages. These campaigns are designed to reduce the health…

This document contains the executive summary and the detailed report which provide an independent evaluation of Kentucky's new system for assessing student performance, the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). The summary gauges progress to date, highlights some strengths to be built on and problems to be solved, and provides…