Presents the results of the 1998 Quality Evaluation of Service Trends (QUEST) Survey administered at Howard Community College (Maryland) to 182 employees. This survey has been conducted annually since 1990. Ten of the service areas listed on the QUEST Survey improved their ratings over the last survey. There were declines in the 40 other areas.…

This paper examines two types of retention, semester and annual, and how they vary by student status, gender, race, program, degree sought, and age. The Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory, together with the faculty and student focus groups, provided valuable data to draw up strategies to improve retention and thus contribute to overall…

The practices, policies, and procedures used in all 50 states for evaluating school and school district effectiveness were examined, with a focus on the study of methodological and measurement issues in the collection, analysis, and reporting of information for accountability purposes. Data were collected through computerized literature and Web…

Suggests that the way to curb discipline problems in schools might be both to clearly spell out rules and to alert students to penalties that go with violating them. (AOS)

Quality education occurs by improving the instructional and administrative means used to achieve intelligent ends. The experiences of Superintendent Parker in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1873, emphasize the need to seek understanding and meaning, to see education whole, to value teachers, and to view superintendents as thoughtful educators, not…

An overview of research on school effectiveness shows that the prescriptive messages from the research (usually in the areas of norms, tasks, and relationships in schooling) can be clarified and mitigated by administrators' precautionary messages that point out the measurement and methodological problems of such research. (JW)

School closings may not be efficient. They cause political disruption, impede educational effectiveness (through overcrowded buildings and an aging staff), and show little evidence of saving enough money to justify the trouble. Instead, schools should expand, enter new areas, generate new revenues, and redefine their missions. (RW)

Four vanguard districts are committed to raising academic scores of students by increasing academic learning time; to turning average schools for disadvantaged students into exemplary schools; and, by carefully charting the process, to providing a scenario that can be useful to other schools. (Author/JM)

Researcher-reformer Ronald Edmonds believes he knows why some urban schools teach poor children successfully. In this interview Edmonds elaborates on his list of the five characteristics of effective schools. (Author/JM)

Skillfully interviewing students can elicit useful information about the quality of the educational program. (JM)

Assessed the implementation level of Carnegie recommendations for middle schools in Louisiana and investigated whether implementing these recommendations was related to desirable student and school outcomes, using the Middle School Practices Questionnaire. Implementation results were not promising. However, implementing recommended middle-level…

Proponents of public/private school choice assume that private schools are more efficient and that parents can distinguish between schools of differing quality and select schools that perform well. A study based on the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study data shows that private schools are no more efficient in using educational resources…

A nationwide examination of school report cards produced 10 categories of often-reported information: standardized testing, student engagement, school success, school environment, staffing and teacher characteristics, program offerings, school facilities, student services, student background characteristics, and school finances. Reports should be…

The 10-year-old High Schools that Work program of the Southern Regional Education Board has improved test scores of vocational students and attempts to demonstrate that career-bound students can handle high-level curriculum. Despite successes, some states and school districts are reluctant to adopt the program. (SK)

Researcher Harris Cooper examined studies on homework and student achievement and found that homework substantially raises high school students' achievement; in junior high, homework raises students' achievement only about half as much; and in elementary grades, homework has no discernible effect on students' achievement. (MLF)