The National Center for Educational Statistics 1998 Report stated that one in ten schools in their sample reported at least one violent crime over the past year. To promote school safety, educators have used traditional law enforcement methods that rely heavily on surveillance, penalties, and punishment. These methods applied to schools can be…

This digest reviews the literature on ways that institutions of higher education can enhance student learning outside the classroom. It considers research on the contributions of out-of-class experiences to valued outcomes of postsecondary education and identifies nine institutional conditions which appear to foster student learning outside the…

This digest in Spanish examines schools' dress-code policies and discusses the legal considerations and research findings about the effects of such changes. Most revisions to dress codes involve the use of uniforms, typically as a way to curb school violence and create a positive learning environment. A recent survey of secondary school principals…

This digest examines schools' dress-code policies and discusses the legal considerations and research findings about the effects of such changes. Most revisions to dress codes involve the use of uniforms, typically as a way to curb school violence and create a positive learning environment. A recent survey of secondary school principals found that…

Educational research often defines educational goals narrowly by reading levels or Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and equally narrowly correlates student success in these areas with the content of the curriculum or time spent in learning. According to Rutter et al., secondary schools with a good ethos create students who perform well…

The small schools literature began with the large-scale quantitative studies of the late 1980s and early 1990s that firmly established small schools as more productive and effective than large ones. These studies confirmed various benefits of small schools--higher academic achievement, increased student satisfaction, and fewer dropouts and…

Resilience is a quality that characterizes children who, though exposed to significant stress and adversity in their lives, do not succumb to the school and life failures predicted for them. Recent research suggests ways that schools and communities can protect children from the threats that confront individuals and families. This digest…

The "Safe Schools, Safe Students" conference brought together leading researchers and practitioners in order to share knowledge about innovative safety strategies being used in America's schools. The papers here represent the thinking of scientific experts and school-based pupil service providers who are implementing programs to prevent…

This digest describes the Invitational Learning model developed by William W. Purkey, an approach that emphasizes mutual respect and human potential in every aspect of schooling. It presents a brief overview of the invitational learning concept and discusses the theoretical foundations of the model. It describes characteristics of an inviting…

The 12 publications in this annotated bibliography highlight different aspects of the assistant principal's role. One Ohio school district has created the title of "Associate Principal," a position that involves participating with the principal in planning, organizing, and evaluating the whole school program. Three articles deal with enriching and…

This digest discusses shared governance in community colleges and identifies issues highlighted by recent shared governance experiences. Governance structure in public community colleges tends to have many variations at both the state and local level. Shared governance is a pattern of self-government in which decision-making is shared among…

This review of the literature considers three issues: how out-of-class experiences of undergraduates contribute to the goals of higher education and valued outcomes; the institutional conditions that encourage students to use out-of-class time in educationally purposeful ways; and the role of all members of the campus community to foster such…

Children with high self-esteem tend to do better in school. Studies indicate, however, that self-esteem is not a cause of academic success, but an effect. In this review of five recent research studies on the subject of self-esteem, one example of a successful program aimed at raising students' self-esteem is offered by Scarborough school system…

This digest discusses public schooling for undocumented immigrant children--children born outside the United States who live here without permission of the federal government. Most are children of agricultural workers. Whatever their circumstances, undocumented immigrant children are entitled to attend school. Anti-immigrant fears are stoked by…

This digest explores the phenomenon of unschooled migrant youth in U.S. communities and schools and describes the responses of schools and programs to their needs. Older youth (aged 12-21) who enter the U.S. school system with little prior educational experience often are non-English-speaking immigrants who are illiterate in their own language. As…