Research has found that effective schools can be distinguished from less successful counterparts by five characteristics. These are: strong instructional leadership; high expectations for all students to learn; an orderly and positive learning environment; a carefully developed instructional focus; and regular measurement of student learning.…

Because the quality management (QM) movement can be very important in school improvement efforts, it is essential to determine how QM can fit with relatively new restructuring ideas and whether this approach is consistent with existing school structures and processes. This book presents an integrated approach to holistic quality management that…

As an institution having undergone many changes over the past 13 years in the Maricopa Community College District, Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) in Arizona has developed and implemented its strategic planning process, institutional effectiveness and student outcomes assessment model, and resource allocation (budget) process over the…

The chapters in this collection deal with a range of issues that surround the positive and negative aspects of assessment and distinguish assessment and evaluation. Educational organizations have become more and more dominated by the processes of assessment and evaluation in various guises such as teacher appraisal, accountability, and student…

In 1996, the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) established a Planning Task Force to prepare a plan that would address the establishment and strengthening of linkages between non-credit programs, especially those in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Transitional Studies (TS), and other CCSF and city programs. The task force used focus…

Pleasant View School for the Arts is a magnet school in northeast Ohio that draws from each level of the social strata and offers options for traditional grouping and tracking strategies in unique and effective ways. The school houses two basic programs: (1) the arts; and (2) gifted education, called the Kaleidoscope program. The arts program…

This report presents the historical background of New York State's normal school system, the system that predated the centralized organization of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. New York's first state normal school was established in Albany in 1844. Nineteen years later the state began to provide support for the normal school at…

The High/Scope Perry Preschool study through age 27 found that high-quality, active learning preschool programs for impoverished African American children cut their crime rate in half, significantly affected their educational performance and level of schooling, increased their earnings and commitment to marriage, and returned $7.16 for every…

Climate and culture are inherent in the life of every organization, including schools. They are difficult to define and even more difficult to change, yet any reform effort must address them first if it is to succeed. This report helps school leaders understand these crucial factors and measure their influences on the school. It offers various…

In examining education systems in Europe, examples show that it is wiser to build slowly and carefully, preserving what is best in existing practice, and discarding what is out of mesh with the times. Using illustrations from 14 countries in western Europe, 4 factors largely determine the size and composition of the independent sector in a…

The first part of a four-part analysis and assessment of Pakistan's system of primary education, this document presents summary conclusions and recommendations. Despite gains in primary school attendance and recent good economic performance, Pakistan's educational base remains so weak as to constitute a serious threat to continued economic growth.…

National data regarding occupational and technical training programs in secondary and area vocational schools are useful in describing patterns of courses taken by students and characteristics of teachers. Data are not available on student enrollments and financial investment, student outcomes in general and related to quality of training…

Despite uncertainty about implementation models, program assessment methods, and application of effective schools research to varied school settings, increasing numbers of schools and school districts have initiated effective schools improvement programs since the early 1970s. Because of the considerable resources committed yearly to management…

Ways in which a high school principal implemented a shared decision-making structure into his school are described in this case study. Two research questions are explored: the identification of the principal's school improvement agenda; and how he improved his school. Methodology involved interviews with the principal and teachers, as well as…

Reporting on a study designed to evaluate West Court High School (WCHS, a pseudonym) in Louisiana, this document discusses quantiative and qualitative aspects of the study; the development of interview protocols for the administrators, teachers, students, and parents who participated; and the sociograms developed to assess the interaction patterns…