This survey of Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools was done to answer the following four questions about student discipline: (1) To what extent is student discipline perceived to be a problem? (2) What are the perceived causes of student behavioral and discipline problems? (3) How are the schools planning and administering discipline? and…

The development, implementation, and evaluation of a policy to increase student attendance in Albemarle High School, Virginia, is described here. Implemented in 1976, the policy called for mandatory grade reduction for students with large numbers of unexcused absences. The program evaluation revealed that the basic objective of improving student…

The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge (Massachusetts) has developed a School-Juvenile Court Liaison Program. Central to the effectiveness of this program is the appointment of a school staff member who fills the role of a liaison or "linking mechanism" between the school and court. The overall objective for the liaison is to…

The data from this study, conducted in conjunction with the Preparation through Responsive Educational Programs (PREP), indicate that no general statements can be made about the relationship among school absenteeism, juvenile delinquency, and other measures of school performance. However, the special approach used to reduce absenteeism did work…

The School Organization program of the Center for Social Organization of Schools is currently concerned with authority-control structures, task structures, reward systems, and peer group processes in schools. This report, prepared by the School Organization program, examines one aspect of authority-control structures in high schools--content of…

Examines to what extent school absenteeism and dropout status as an adolescent have implications for performance of other roles subsequently in the life cycle. Domains of adult functioning studied among former truants and dropouts include occupational and educational attainment, health status, delinquency, and patterns of drug use. (GC)

Many gifted students have problems that are not simply academic, but also social and emotional. Gifted students frequently experience self-doubt, boredom, frustration, and social isolation or ridicule from peers. Teacher education courses should equip high school teachers to deal with the emotional problems of gifted adolescents. (JN)

This article describes an attempt to reduce truancy through intervention in the school system. This strategy had two goals: (1) amelioration of truancy as manifested in individual patterns of behavior; (2) elimination of setting events and/or contingencies within the school system that evoke or reinforce truancy. (Author/KC)

Urban schools in America seek solutions to problems caused by outside elements. Instead, the focus should be on basic dilemmas and detriments within the schools. Twelve internal changes could occur immediately in all American urban schools to bring improved choices, research, and leadership to administration and faculty. (SB)

Although NAFTA has proven profitable for U.S. growers who have relocated agricultural production to Mexico, it has helped create an economic crisis that has forced thousands of Mexican children to leave school in order to work and supplement their parents' shrinking income. In Mexicali Valley (Baja California), approximately a fourth of the…

When describing the determinants of economic or social outcomes, economists often have a very simplified view of skill. Failure to take into account the fact that skill is intrinsically a multidimensional object may misguide both research and the design of social policy. In this paper, the authors analyse the consequences and determinants of…

Administrators have many methods at their disposal to use in the struggle to control truancy. This paper describes the kinds of truancy-reduction efforts most commonly used: stringent laws and regulations (such as parental sanctions, zero credit, suspensions, and police intervention), inschool programs (the school-climate-improvement and the…

Cases related to school policies that mandate or lead to automatic grade and/or credit reduction are reviewed in this study. Standard legal research methods were used to analyze 14 appellate and state court cases, which were categorized according to the type of sanction invoked: student suspension for violation of a disciplinary rule; automatic…

The courts have come to play an increasingly important role in educational policy making and the administrative management of our public schools. This is especially apparent in the context of school discipline where numerous and varied controversies have been translated into legal disputes over the past three decades, many of which have ultimately…

The role of the legal community in ensuring school safety is discussed, and effective antischool-crime programs involving attorneys and judges are described. Introductory passages comment on the overall role of courts and lawyers in education, the current national concern over crime and violence in schools, and national and California initiatives…