Explores technology and its place in the Catholic school mission. States that the best use for technology is to help make learning more effective and meaningful. Identifies a need to meet the diverse learning styles of students, celebrate their unique cultural backgrounds, and help them appreciate the rapidly changing society into which they were…

Describes the school climate, the building-level specifics, and some effective teaching strategies that make Western Hills Elementary School an appropriate and successful setting for the development of multicultural language practices. Discusses the partnership between the school district and the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the role…

Draws on the findings from the School Effectiveness in South Africa Project (SESA) and the Committee for a Culture of Learning and Teaching (CCOLT) conducted with schools located within Johannesburg (South Africa). Explains that both the SESA and CCOLT point to ways in which black schooling in South Africa is occurring. (CMK)

Describes a study that used the Community College Student Experience Questionnaire (CCSEQ) to investigate the relationship between student academic involvement and perceived gains in career preparation among health, technical, business and trade/industry students. Indicates that health students reported the highest perceived gains and study-effort…

Analyzes student assessment results at Key Stage 1 in three core curriculum areas and in terms of performance across these areas. Demonstrates that background factors have differential affects on various subject attainments, raw data systematically penalize disadvantaged inner-city schools, and school policies and practices measurably affect…

Challenges a central orthodoxy of school-effectiveness work-that schools should strive to become more consistent learning environments. Ironically, the effective-school model has become embedded in the educational politics of the UK and USA, where conditions do not favor successful implementation. Educators must first address rampant socioeconomic…

A charter school in Kenai, Alaska, offers back-to-basics curriculum and direct instruction. The school has drawn many home-schoolers back to the public school system, and consistently scores high on standardized tests. The school's success is attributed to teachers' collaboration and common vision, continuity across grades, high academic…

Examines the effectiveness of Accelerated School Programs (ASPs) on the basis of a study of four comprehensive schools in Israel. Assesses the influence of ASPs upon internal school processes, such as school goals, structures, and cultures, as perceived by school staff. Determines the project's impact on staff and parents' attitudes, and examines…

Provides a case study of how school effectiveness policy is mediated by teachers and Local Education Authority (LEA) advisors. Uses qualitative data of a "failing" junior school in the United Kingdom to highlight (1) an LEA response to an evaluation by the Office for Standards in Education and (2) staff mediation of the LEA intervention.…

The idea that schools seldom change is debunked as a myth and discussed in terms of two types of change (incremental and fundamental) that have marked the history of public schools. This myth has also affected the education of children with disabilities, particularly concerning judgment of the success or failure of innovations. Suggestions for…

Two teacher participants in a Georgia multi-age project offer principles for effective middle-school practice. Teachers should include kinesthetic activities and the arts; believe in every student's learning potential; make learning fun and engaging; use interdisciplinary and thematic approaches; assess their progress; and create learning…

Discusses the implementation of a charter middle school serving at-risk students in Louisiana and intended to provide an alternative to expulsion. Reviews the school's objectives, school governance and charter law compliance, educational program, accountability, and preliminary progress. Considers the level of attainment for each of 13 goals for…

Through a partnership with Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, staff of a successful, improvement-oriented elementary school focused on brain-compatible practices. These included a safe, nonthreatening environment; active and meaningful learning; rich, stimulating, varied input; and accurate, timely, and helpful feedback. (MLH)

Discusses ways in which the logic of mandated systems of mass testing, as a means of ensuring the accountability of public schools, results in the loss of local responsibility for student learning, as well as an inevitable orientation of local schools to comply with system directives over personal, professional, and community values. (Contains 55…

Examines the role of principals in highly successful elementary schools serving primarily students from low-income homes in influencing two factors viewed a foundational for a school in which social justice is more than simply an abstract ideal: Development of early literacy for ever child and avoidance of overidentification and inappropriate…