This study, focusing on 165 public elementary schools in Hawaii, examined the use of test scores as measures of curriculum effectiveness and identified context and input variables that may impact on these measures of effectiveness. Demographic characteristics and test data on approximately 12,000 third graders were used to obtain 165 school…

In the wake of January 1988 takeover legislation to improve education in the State of New Jersey, this paper describes and justifies the strict state three-tier monitoring system of school district educational standards. School districts that need improvement after the first level of monitoring must develop an improvement plan to overcome their…

The Nebraska educational system is experiencing internal turmoil even though its students are highly ranked nationally on standardized tests and show a higher ratio of graduating high school than those in most other states. This report was commissioned by Nebraska education officials who were concerned that their state was not taking a large…

The relationship between the costs of schooling and the size of school districts is discussed. The first section of this paper provides a critical survey of what economists have written about economies of scale and questions whether bigger is really cheaper or more efficient, as is generally found in commercial endeavors. The second section…

This document presents data summarizing the indicators of educational quality in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) and, where possible, compares the AISD data to data from other urban districts, the state, and the nation. Data are presented on student achievement overall, for college-bound students and among different ethnic…

Various models of school effects on student achievement were applied in a study of reading and mathematics achievement in the 94 schools of the Oklahoma City Public Schools. The Leadership/Climate Inventory, completed by 1294 teachers, rated school principals in the areas of expectations, instructional leadership, forceful or dynamic style,…

This paper sets forth and clarifies state-level policy issues that are implicit in the recommendations for reform provided by recent major reports on the status of American education. For each report under consideration, four questions are posed: (1) Who is recommending what? (2) Does the recommendation make sense in a state's total program? (3)…

Among the 12 publications reviewed in this annotated bibliography are a paper on how administrators can provide teacher support systems, the proceedings of a conference on creating conditions for effective teaching, an article on the methods principals can use to help teachers manage stress more effectively, a report of the results of a study of…

The effect of the Mississippi Performance-Based Accreditation Model on operations in a local school district is examined. Specifically, this report describes the Tupelo, Mississippi school district's experience in producing improved pupil learning. The Mississippi accreditation paradigm is prescriptive. It is an evaluation driven system capable of…

The program of the 1981 Appalachia Educational Laboratory Forum was based on the theme of improving schools and using research and development. The first section of this report contains summaries of presentations made at the forum. In the first presentation, a discussion is given on outcome-based education, the merits and drawbacks of mastery…

In addressing three aspects of teacher education--initial preparation, continuing education, and certification--state departments of education must be outcome-oriented and leave teacher education institutions and school districts free to explore alternate delivery systems. The state's involvement in initial preparation of teachers should be to…

Examined in this paper are the characteristics that distinguish successful schools from unsuccessful schools. Particular attention is given to the instructional success of schools with poor children. An extensive review of related literature illustrates the wide range of opinions held by educators and researchers on the subject. Reference is made…

Reviews findings from James Coleman's report, "Public and Private High Schools," comparing public and private schools with respect to curriculum, student achievement and knowledge levels, dropout rates, minority group achievement, and students' postsecondary choices. Urges Catholic school principals to provide a school climate that…

Outcomes of guidance can be assessed at these three levels: individual, where they are immediate; organizational, where they are intermediate; or societal, where they are ultimate. They may result in learning outcomes, school effectiveness, economic benefits, or social benefits. Various designs of outcome evaluation are described and…

This manuscript, compiled by the National Center for Homeless Education, is the outcome of the first year of a two-year project designed to explore what works in reading instruction for students who are highly mobile. It summarizes the findings of a review of literature on teaching reading to highly mobile students. The target population included…