Effective-schools researchers have identified factors that are correlated with improved school achievement. School districts and state departments of education have applied this research to school improvement frameworks. This paper describes how Effective Schools Research was employed to develop a questionnaire to assess school staff perceptions…

Identification of schools for improvement of Chapter 1 Programs raises the challenge of selecting the best technical procedures meeting the law and usefully guiding improvement efforts. Failure to demonstrate gains in student achievement has been operationalized on two levels: aggregate performance and desired outcomes. Aggregate performance…

Research during the 1960s and early 1970s suggested that the different outcomes of schooling for different students were due to factors outside the school. There was no consensus among the researchers over which factors outside the school had the greatest effect on student achievement. Swedish educational research has made many important…

The assessment of educational outcomes has been a major area of interest among policy makers in recent years. Those with responsibility for assessment often are drawn from the ranks of the faculty and have little knowledge of or interest in institutional research. This paper provides a means to distinguish the unique, yet interrelated ways in…

A study compared the ninth-grade performance of students who were randomly admitted to New York City career magnet high schools to those who were randomly not offered seats in those schools. The research measured the effect of career magnets on students of average and low reading ability whose academic records were not strong enough to gain them…

New York City's public school system was challenged during the 1990s by fiscal pressures that coincided with a surge in student enrollment. The focus of this report is how the City's schools performed under these combined pressures. There were four major conclusions relating to disappointing school performance: school buildings grew more crowded;…

This report discusses the findings of a study that attempted to investigate the participation rates of students with disabilities in the Oregon statewide testing program. The study joined individual student data from the Oregon Statewide Assessment Program and the Oregon Special Education Child Count to examine participation rates. The report…

Rural schools, in partnership with a solid base of supportive community citizens, can positively influence community vitality through expanded curricular and extracurricular offerings. This paper explores the ways in which rural communities can enhance education in their own towns. It discusses the characteristics of successful rural schools,…

This report aims to assist the board in achieving its goals for 1999. Background and current status are reviewed for the following 12 topics: (1) transfer articulation; (2) educational competencies; (3) institutional effectiveness reporting; (4) addressing unmet needs of time and place-bound students; (5) policies regarding community college…

This report presents data regarding employment and retention within Oklahoma of college graduates. Two specific issues addressed are: (1) the general productivity of the degree fields at the bachelor's and associate degree levels; and (2) the proportion of Oklahomans who receive these degrees and remain in the state over time. Both the academic…

This report presents questions and typical responses from focus group discussions conducted at Johnson County Community College (JCCC, Kansas) in March 1999. A total of 23 individuals of varying ages from all geographic regions in Johnson County participated in three focus groups, designed as a follow-up to a phone survey about constituency…

This study explored how community socioeconomic class, setting (rural, small-town, suburban, or urban), and culture influence effective school linkages for preschool children with disabilities. The study utilized a model of school success based on effective schools research. The study analyzed data previously reported for four school districts in…

Twelve case studies of school improvement are presented in this monograph. The effective schools model is based on the assumption that all students can learn; focuses on the school building organization as the unit of change; and is driven by the school-based management process. Reports submitted by 11 school districts and 1 educational resource…

Restructuring schools has become a rallying cry among educators. It aims to create schools that are more centered on learner's needs for active, experiential, cooperative, and culturally connected learning opportunities supportive of individual talents and learning styles. This report is based on an early evaluation of the process of restructuring…

This document was developed to assist Texas school districts in planning and implementing quality programs for migrant students in the areas of identification and recruitment, parental involvement, improving academic achievement, and increasing graduation rates. A holistic framework is proposed to address the academic, social, and emotional needs…