Discusses the relevance to class size policy of research studies on effective schools, mastery learning, organizational theory, and effective teaching. Class size should be matched to student needs. (BJV)

Notes that as the student progresses through school, science experiences hold a less positive view. Used are teacher interviews and classroom observations conducted to determine possible explanations. Points out that schools need to help students realize how much science affects their everyday lives. (MVL)

Describes the current status of California's community colleges and reviews predictions for the future. Indicates that innovation, change, the quality movement, and technology will be key players in the colleges' future. Discusses "Choosing the Future," a controversial report by the Commission on Innovation to the state Board of…

Reports a study that analyzed relationships among supportive principal behavior, faculty collegiality, faculty trust, and effectiveness. Data from 2,777 middle school teachers indicated that supportive principals, not teacher behavior, promoted trust in the principal. Teacher collegiality, not principal behavior, fostered trust among colleagues.…

Examines how the practice of tracking affects students' social bonding with their school. Discovers that tracking creates a polarization between students. Higher level tracked students accept the schools demands as normative, while lower tracked students rebel and often drop out. Includes statistical tables on drop-out rates and other variables.…

Provides for those involved in retaining a child a concise, cumulative report of recent literature and research on elementary grade retention. Most research indicated that elementary school level retention does not effectively increase academic achievement among low-achieving students. Research-based decision making on this issue is a must. (RJM)

Discusses ways to assess patterns of family interactions that influence adolescent career development. Encourages school counselors to investigate the possibility that extremes in family patterns of adaptation, cohesion, and communication may have a significant negative impact on adolescent career development. Timely assessments and interventions…

Summarizes a three-year Consortium for Policy Research in Education project to identify conditions in U.S., Canadian, and Australian schools that promote high performance through school-based management. Findings showed that SBM requires redesign of the whole school organization. Success depended on how schools decentralized four key resources:…

The extent to which a two-year college's effectiveness is linked to dominant organizational culture type (clan, adhocracy, hierarchy, or market) was examined. A survey of faculty and administrators in 30 representative colleges found that perceived effectiveness is strongly related to culture type, with adhocracy (characterized by employment of…

Analyzes the perceptions and expectations of 35 African-American parents regarding African-American independent schooling, using the framework of M. K. Asante (1980). Interviews with these parents suggest that Afrocentrism is a process of individual transformation. More African-American parents are looking at schooling in broader social contexts.…

Creating organizationally effective desegregated schools requires sophisticated political, symbolic, and rational thought. A broadened definition of effectiveness is suggested, and attention is given to the key concepts of legitimation and rationality. Constituents central to the school must believe in and support excellence and equity. (SLD)

U.S. education faces productivity and efficiency crisis. Because local, state, federal budgets are limited, schools must accomplish more with less. Few U.S. youngsters see themselves as workers or their school performance as greatly affecting later life. Teacher and student expectations are unreasonably low. Because schools cannot provide social…

Reviews effective schools research and discusses the theories behind it. Both the "empirical" approach and the multiparadigmatic approach have limitations. An evolutionary epistemology that interweaves qualitative and quantitative aspects of school effectiveness is preferable. People need realistic change models allowing them to balance…

The organizational model used in American schools must be scrutinized to determine its effectiveness in the face of the changing demographics of American schools. Transforming the schools depends on social and attitudinal changes that incorporate political changes directed at social problems. (SLD)

Describes the Hong Kong education system, discusses policies and initiatives for education quality and school improvement, and reviews the development of school-effectiveness research. Summarizes progress in language teaching and learning, teacher quality, private-sector school development, curriculum development, teaching and learning conditions,…