This report, the seventh in a series concerning school calendars, examines teacher attendance patterns. Pupil attendance falls off from the September high point to reach a low point in February, whereupon the trend is reversed through June. Outside temperature and student patterns are similar. A sample of New York State public school districts was…

The fourth in a series of reports in a review of materials pertaining to what schools within and outside New York state are doing to save energy. In addition to inhouse memoranda, resource material included letters, studies, and publications received from other local, state, and federal agencies; from private firms and associations; and from the…

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…

The first in a series of reports consolidates data about energy sources and extrapolates that information to the problems and expenses that New York has and will experience in heating public schools. A presentation of national energy consumption is followed by an examination of the availability of potential alternatives to petroleum and natural…

Star of the Sea School, located in the Wai'alae-kahala area of Honolulu, implemented year-round schooling (YRS) in 1991. This publication describes the history of YRS, the status of YRS in the Pacific region, and outcomes of the Star of the Sea's program. The private Catholic K-8 school adheres to a 45-10 plan, which includes 180 regular school…

Block Scheduling has been considered a cure for a lengthy list of educational problems. This report reviews the literature on block schedules and describes some Oregon high schools that have integrated block scheduling. Major disadvantages included resistance to change and requirements that teachers change their teaching strategies. There is…

This report is an excerpt from the National Education Commission On Time and Learning Final Report, "Prisoners of Time," published in April, 1994. In it, the Commission concludes that the reform movement of the last decade is destined to founder unless it is able to harness more time, and better management thereof, for learning. The…

One avenue being explored as a way to cut costs while maintaining the quality of programs and services is year-round education (YRE). In most cases, the known benefits and drawbacks of an existing component of traditional scheduling must be weighed against the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of YRE. The five articles reviewed in this…

Interim programs at nine colleges are described. An introductory essay by Lee M. Swan, "The Interim: Potential for Quality Learning," emphasizes the potential for unique learning through the interim approach. At Augustana College (South Dakota), interim experiences are required, including core courses, internships, travel experiences,…

This fifth in a series of reports concerning school calendars examines the literature about learning, retention, and forgetting. The emphasis is necessarily on "time," as that is the major variable among calendars. Theories of memory are described: (1) storage and retrieval, and (2) imprint and trace decay. Relative to forgetting, a…

This study, the third in a series of reports, is limited to an analysis of the energy use and cost implications of nine school calendars proposed by the New York State Department of Education. These calendars are characterized as (1) traditional; (2) ten-month school year; (3) mid-August start, two semesters; (4) four-day week; (5) four-day, 7.5…

The school-reform movement has not as yet helped to relieve teachers of their nonteaching duties. One result of shared decision making is that some principals have replaced student-supervisory duties with that of committee work. These duties can take as much time as many of the traditional nonteaching duties. One way to improve teacher morale and…

Advantages and examples of year-round education are discussed in this publication. Advantages include instructional benefits, relief from overcrowding, savings on operational and capital costs, increased teacher flexibility, improved attendance, and reduced vandalism. Guidelines for implementation, calendar design, and descriptions of various…

These newsletters on Institutional Effectiveness (IE) at Austin Community College (ACC) in Texas include the following articles: (1) "The 'Fast Track'...Students Say It Works!" (2) "Are Students Successfully Completing Distance Learning Courses at ACC?" (3) "Tracking Transfers"; (4) "Math Pilot: Study Skills…

This newsletter on educational innovation contains a reflection on educators' time limitations, a personal examination of the "teacher as coach" analogy, and several brief descriptions of programs in school renewal, innovation, and teacher education around the nation. Shari Castle and Gary D. Watts argue, in "Temporal Tensions: The Tyranny of…