The effectiveness and applicability of student discipline and attendance policies in Massachusetts' public schools are addressed in this report. Following an introduction, the second section presents a review of research and examines seven assumptions about current statewide discipline and attendance practices in light of recent findings.…

CONCLUSIONS OF JUDGE SWEENEY'S REVIEW OF THE SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, RULING ARE PRESENTED. THERE WAS NO DELIBERATE INTENTION OF THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES TO SEGREGATE THE SCHOOLS. SEGREGATION RESULTED FROM A RIGID ADHERENCE TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, WHICH HAD BEEN IN EFFECT SINCE THE LATTER PART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY IN…

In 1978, the Amherst School Department rejected Peter and Susan Perchemlides' proposal for educating their eight-year-old son at home and cited them in court for failing to send the child to school. The author describes this controversy and reviews previous court cases on compulsory schooling. (SJL)

Focusing on Massachusetts as a case study, this research relates 19th century schooling patterns to social change. Indices of social change included schooling differences in rural and urban areas, industrial and economic development, school community relationship, and family life. The document contains 10 chapters; each chapter is based on both…