Staff development is the key to middle school effectiveness, and this article lists characteristics of an effective staff development program, examples of activities and topics, and questions for program evaluation. (DCS)

Recent national assessments of education have been primarily negative. The positive approach of "In Search of Excellence" might be a better guide for reform. Principals could follow the example of successful businesses by supporting informal experimentation, seeking feedback from students and parents, and recognizing teachers' successes…

Highlights selected findings from the study, "Effective Catholic Schools: An Exploration," which combined field studies at 7 Catholic high schools and 20 elementary schools with statistical analyses of national survey data to explore factors associated with Catholic school excellence. (DMM)

John Wilson School, Innisfail, Alberta, prides itself on being a leader among schools. It was one of the first to put into place a continuous progress system that keeps children in class with their age level but allows for differences in learning rates. Other programs and projects are briefly described. (MT)

The dissemination of effective school health education constitutes a significant problem. Two research questions discussed are the lack of data on how many children receive health information and insufficient evidence to ascertain the quality or quantity of health information presented. (Author/DF)

The characteristics of effective school philosophies are outlined. The author discusses the differences between political philosophies and school philosophies and points out the difficulties involved in developing "good" school philosophies that are specific. (MD)

Examines four recent reports on the status of education in America: "A Place Called School,""Academic Preparation for College,""The Paideia Proposal," and "Horace's Compromise." The reports' explicit and implicit agendas for secondary social studies education are analyzed. (RM)

Discusses the necessity for the use of test score data in measuring school effectiveness. Outlines the types of tests best suited to particular schools. (MD)

This annotated list of references represents current knowledge in five areas related to effective schools and classrooms. These areas are (1) the process of education change; (2) school and classroom culture; (3) student cognition; (4) student affect; and (5) school improvement and staff development. Also included are references to middle school…

Argues that school effectiveness can be increased by improving the principal's ability to understand and assist in the process of improving classroom instruction. (FL)

Describes a program developed at Franklin Park Elementary School (Florida) that altered the school environment and introduced characteristics that are known to improve learning. The school had ranked near the bottom of the district's schools in student achievement, but at the end of the first year of the program, student achievement scores rose…

This article reviews synonyms for the concept of organizational effectiveness and criteria for measuring organizational effectiveness used in the literature and derives an eclectic taxonomy of organizational effectiveness variables. Application of the taxonomy to assessing the effectiveness of educational organizations is discussed and a checklist…

Argues that the quality of work life literature is both appropriate and useful for understanding and improving the effectiveness and quality of school life. Suggests that both quality and effectiveness of learning and school operations can be improved by adopting participative management models and innovations. (CJM)

Addresses numerous problem areas in today's schools, including student absenteeism, teacher attendance, the lack of administrative time devoted to instructional supervision, the infrequency of student assemblies and faculty meetings, inadequate faculty development, low scholastic requirements, the need for a tenured teacher policy, administrative…

Describes several successful programs for raising the achievement of disadvantaged students. Holds that since instructionally effective schools do exist, and they have known features which provide useful operational guidelines, it is possible to achieve further advances in successful pedagogy for poor children. (GC)