College-bound high school seniors and their parents too often choose their undergraduate institutions not on the basis of teaching caliber, but on the strength of the perceived academic credential. Faculty understand that in higher education, value and prestige attach first to research, second to teaching graduate and advanced professional…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop a program to increase high school juniors' and seniors' academic achievement by one grade level, their self-esteem by one level (as measured by the North York Secondary School Self-Concept Inventory), and to increase parent positive responses and interest in the program and its continuation. Examination…

Parental choice is seen as a promising approach to school improvement. This report supports choice by suggesting answers to the following questions that reformers might ask: (1) is school performance poor enough to justify wholesale change? (2) what have schools done about troubling trends in student performance? (3) what do other researchers say…

Based on the premise that deficiencies in student learning are inherent byproducts of the traditional school structure, this study compares the effects of an experimental curriculum program on student learning with its traditional structural counterpart. The traditional school structure is characterized by a heavy teacher workload, segmented…

The summary of a statewide conference on future directions for Iowa education in congruence with national education goals and the results of a follow-up survey are the topics of this report. Roundtable discussion participants assessed 10 educational goals and their associated indicators in relation to validity of the indicators, barriers to…

The importance of legislative initiatives to improve postsecondary education is discussed, along with mechanisms that legislatures have used to induce change in higher education, and guidelines for action. Structural obstacles to improvements that have confronted most public colleges include lack of clear priorities, fragmented responsibilities,…

This paper evaluates current research literature on effective schools. While acknowledging that the research provides systematic direction for school improvement, the author also points out some shortcomings of existing studies, including (1) inadequate description of curriculum content and of circumstances believed to result in test success; (2)…

While initiative in educational policy formation has shifted increasingly away from local and federal to state-level policy systems, policy problems continue to be compounded by intellectual problems related to weak conceptualization and inadequate analysis. Policy debates of the 20th Century have focused successively on education efficiency,…

The history of the advancement of blacks in the United States is almost a laboratory study of human achievement. But the story of how millions of people developed from the depths of slavery--acquired work skills, personal discipline, human ideals, and the whole complex of knowledge and values required for achievement in a modern society--is a…

One approach to identifying effective schools defines effectiveness in terms of student achievement in reading, mathematics, and language usage. Exceptional school achievement is indicated by performance above or below the level expected if students were merely to maintain their previous rate of growth. Regression analysis is used to compute…

The development of the Parent Attitudes toward School Effectiveness (PATSE) questionnaire was conducted in two phases. The pilot test form contained 47 items reflecting parents' attitudes toward 6 categories: (1) school and community relationships; (2) clear school mission; (3) high expectations; (4) safe and orderly environment; (5) instructional…

The School Team Facilitator assists participating New England secondary schools in planning and implementing improvement efforts based on school effectiveness research. This publication, distributed at a team training conference, begins with the conference schedule, a list of facilitators, instructions on choosing a school team, and letters to…

This report summarizes activities of the 5-year Rural Education Project of the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) and reviews the current state of rural education. Deteriorating agricultural economy and mandated school reforms were found to have exacerbated rural school problems of maintaining quality programs in situations of…

Drawing on information from 15 sources, this literature review discusses advantages/disadvantages of small schools and summarizes practices for both rural and urban small schools to follow to maintain educational quality despite dwindling enrollments and resources. Small school disadvantages in the areas of staff, instructional program, and…

To help young adolescents reach their potential, middle schools must provide high quality intellectual climates that foster the development of adaptive skills which students can use throughout their lives. Accordingly, practical advice is presented for 12 interrelated dimensions of schooling at the middle level that merit the highest priority…