This brief discusses issues of school finance equity as they relate to resources and services provided to special education students. It uses information obtained from a recent study of Chapter 1, which examined educational resources and expenditures in 95 elementary schools in 30 school districts across 5 states. The schools had students with…

This report examines traditional and newer forms of school district entrepreneurship and its impact on school district revenues. The report describes forms that have become well-established, such as school and parent fund raising, local educational foundations, business-education partnerships, and student fees. New forms of educational…

This document presents a set of ten newsletters, entitled "Connections," published by the Foothill-De Anza Community College District from September 1997 through December 1998. The following articles appear in the newsletters: "Futurist Wolfe,""Local Success Fong," and "Fourth Annual Day at the 'Stick Is a Big…

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among American youth aged 5-24, and small and rural school districts must recognize and address this growing phenomenon. A survey of 462 Illinois principals reported 133 student suicides during the 5-year study period. Small school districts comprised 6 percent of Illinois school districts yet reported…

Increasing expenditures for education and a desire to more directly involve the public in the education of children have led many school districts to seek the assistance of school volunteers. This guidebook discusses the growth of the volunteer movement, suggests procedures for establishing an organized school program, and appraises potential…

Differences in the revenue that public school districts receive have led to legal challenges of the equity of school finance in many states. Achieving equity in the allocation of resources for education requires consideration of factors such as the cost of living and the educational needs of children in addition to the wealth of the school…

The results of a National Institute of Education research project indicate that despite their key roles in making schools effective, principals are chosen in a process "ridden with chance" and are frequently selected because of their "images" rather than for their qualities as educational leaders. Vacancy announcements are rarely publicized widely…

This collection of short articles, devoted to educational reform at the local level, addresses the issues of improving curricula, expanding educational resources, addressing dropout and discipline problems, and handling increased court involvement in school reform. "The Sceptre, the Rod and the Schoolhouse Gate," by Lawrence Friedman, traces the…

The goal of the doctoral dissertation summarized here was to develop a set of recommended guidelines to be used in developing standards and procedures for elementary and secondary public school facility construction in Arizona. The study focuses on determining the essential elements of these guidelines and on determining which of these elements…

This document consists of the six issues of the "Abbott Bulletin" published during 1998. The "Abbott Bulletin" is a one-page per issue newsletter that reports on developments in response to a set of rulings by the New Jersey Supreme Court in the Abbott v. Burke case. In its fifth ruling in the Abbott case in May 1998, the Court…

School districts with successful teacher evaluation programs all treat evaluation as a major district responsibility, allocate considerable resources to evaluation, carry out the programs as planned, keep administrators and teachers well informed about the plan, develop methods for ensuring the competence of evaluators, and use the evaluation…

This booklet tells the story of citizen organization and role in the school reform movement in the restructuring of the Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools. Chapter 1, "People Were 'Mad As Hell,'" relates the events immediately surrounding the Chicago Teachers Union strike that transformed discontent into community action. Chapter 2,…

Nine distinct programs aimed at reducing the dropout rate and bringing "at-risk" students back into the educational mainstream are described in this publication. The document first notes the social and economic costs to the nation of students dropping out before completing high school. The report then describes changes in Wisconsin's attendance…

The author looks at the legal responsibilities of small school districts in Washington state regarding the provision of programs for gifted students. Sections address a case study of a 14 year old child who was denied permission to remain in the gifted program located in her former residential district, legislation mandating the provision of…

This bulletin describes a set of general guidelines for developing contingency plans that prepare school systems to cope with expected and unexpected disruptions in the educational process. Typically, contingency plans are prepared to anticipate consequences of school desegregation, natural disasters, bomb threats, or mass demonstrations. The…