In 1986, the U.S. Department of Education published the immensely popular "What Works: Research about Teaching and Learning," a compendium of research summaries pertinent to the home, classroom, and school. In 1988, graduate seminar students at the University of California, Los Angeles, attempted to develop a series of "What…

This planning paper offers background information and recommendations for the establishment of a research center for the study of educating the disadvantaged. It is based on a seminar comprised of educational researchers held to consider how low achieving students can best be helped. The research agenda for such a center should consider the…

Assessment projects at Missouri's institutions of higher education are summarized. At the request of the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education, each institution prepared a description that included information on the number of students involved, expected outcomes, and specifically related expenditures. In Missouri, assessment is…

This paper argues for two major changes in the selection of students and in the way that services are delivered under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. The first change would make available Chapter 1 funds only to schools with very high proportions of children whose families live in poverty. The second change…

Key results and conclusions from the first year (1986-87) of the Detroit (Michigan) Effective Schools Project are presented. The project was designed to determine how low-achieving schools in Detroit can best be helped and to ascertain factors with greatest impact on retention and achievement. Focus is on assisting selected schools designated as…

The purpose of this forum was the assessment of how well current research is meeting the needs of rural educators. Individual papers presented at the forum are "Learning To Find the 'Niches': Rural Education and Vitalizing Rural Communities" by Daryl Hobbs with commentary by Richard Tulikangas; "Effective Rural Schools: Where Are We? Where Are We…

Although the two countries differ vastly in wealth and resources, Cuba was selected as the second subject in this comparative study of the American effective schools movement and a socialist educational system because of: (1) the successes of the Cuban literacy campaign; and (2) similarities between the racial composition of the two countries. In…

Together in one volume are the essential points of nine national education reports that are most often referred to and discussed, plus a review of a report concerning vocational education. Chapters present and synthesize the major findings and recommendations of the national reports, according to the area of focus--goals and instruction, for…

The effectiveness of strategies employed by colleges and universities to reverse a trend of declining enrollment was studied. A comparison was undertaken of 59 institutions that were successful (S) and 54 institutions that were unsuccessful (U) in reversing enrollment decline. In addition to questionnaire response data, extensive demographic data…

To test the effectiveness of an organizational development strategy to improve educational environments, data were gathered on the process and outcomes of a project for school climate improvement and school renewal. Data from two urban schools--a junior high school and a middle school--were drawn from interviews with participants, figures on…

According to recent research findings, school principals are the motivating agents in schools where effective learning takes place. Recognizing the importance of school principals, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) conference participants viewed a role delineation for principals and a restructuring of school organization as necessary to…

An overview is presented of school effectiveness research which has identified characteristics of academically successful schools. The research reviewed has reexamined such things as the way educators manage time, assign students, define curriculum, determine class size, organize schools, and assess achievement. This report focuses upon three…

This report provides state-by-state data on several indicators of public school quality. Each state table contains numerical data, and ratings of a three-point scale, for the following: (1) student-teacher ratio, (2) average classroom teacher salary, (3) expenditure per student, (4) state-local revenue for public schools as percent of personal…

The Prime Minister's Committee on Natural Science in Education in Great Britain reported in 1918 that "...in many schools more time is spent in laboratory work than the results obtained can justify." Seventy years later this conclusion can often still be drawn. This is particularly a problem in open distance education where laboratory practicals,…

This report is the fourth of a series on cultivating excellence in education for the purpose of training and retraining school leaders of the 1990s. The role of school administrators in program evaluation and the purposes of program evaluation form the content of this four-part report. Part 1 establishes the context for program evaluation within a…