A questionnaire responded to by 34 randomly selected Illinois school districts with high school enrollments under 500 provided information contradicting an Illinois State Board of Education report that cast doubt on the educational effectiveness of smaller schools. The questionnaire's first section sought information about each district's…

In order to determine the level of adoption of Management by Objectives (MBO) by public community and junior colleges in the North Central Accreditation Region, chief executive officers (CEO's) of 224 two-year colleges were asked to provide information on institutional size; the use, effectiveness, and acceptance of MBO at various organizational…

A FACT-FINDING PROCESS TO ANALYZE, DESCRIBE, AND INTERPRET THE SCHOOL PROGRAM, RESULTED IN A SET OF SPECIFICATIONS TO BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR MAKING ARCHITECTURAL DECISIONS. MAJOR TOPICS ARE--(1) EDUCATIONAL SPECIFICATIONS, (2) FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT, EDUCATIONAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES, AND (3) BUILDING STANDARDS. THE SCHOOL IS DISCUSSED IN…

THERE ARE MANY BARRIERS TO MORE EFFECTIVE SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE SUCH AS (1) ARCHITECTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL PREJUDICE, (2) OBSOLETE CODES, (3) BUILDING COMPLEXITY, AND (4) STATIC THINKING. HOWEVER, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY DEVELOPMENTS IN (1) GROUP PLANNING, (2) LEARNING WALLS AND SPACE DIVIDERS, (3) STUDENT CENTERS, (4) LANDSCAPING, AND (5) HUMANISTIC…

A questionnaire was sent to superintendents of selected school districts which operated resident outdoor laboratory school programs. Areas covered by the questionnaire included finance, facilities, public relations, transportation, insurance, staffing, food service, and board policies. Responses indicated that few differences existed in program…

Two theories direct researchers in their efforts to find the optimum school or district size. The first theory holds that expenditures per student decrease as the size of the school increases. The second theory maintains that the first is true only to a certain enrollment level at which point the greater complexity of the school increases…

Reviews current practices in middle schools. Includes a listing of 24 practices used in effective middle schools extrapolated from a survey of literature on effective schools. (MD)

Several methods for formulating secondary school capacity are outlined. Consideration of the relationship between educational program and pupil capacity is emphasized. (MD)

Educational reform should be viewed less as the replacement of old with new and more as a process of renewal; the triumph of reform lies in its never succeeding. School reform intended to repair, once and for all, a broken institution will inevitably be frustrated. Schools depend ultimately on motivation. (RDN)

Outlined are the importance of school size in relation to school effectiveness and other significant features determining the management of change in small schools. (MD)

Several hypotheses are developed regarding fans and their behavior based upon a review of the literature. An exploratory study is then described, in which participant observers at a university sports arena observed cases of aggressive behavior among the spectators. Based upon the literature review and the findings of the study, four…

This study investigated the relationship between certain institutional characteristics and perceptions of North Carolina community college presidents about the importance of leadership roles, values and emotions, and skills. Those characteristics were the size of the institution, the growth rate of the institution, and the geographic setting of…

In the past 30 years, research has suggested the need for much smaller high schools. In response, some administrators have attempted to subdivide big high schools into smaller entities. This digest reviews recent research on the movement to break up large schools and discusses five types of error common to such attempts--errors of autonomy, size,…

A symposium on the challenges and opportunities facing small institutions as they move into the 21st century was held to allow participants the opportunity to describe their own initiatives and to hear the views of representatives of larger institutions with technology mediated programs. The paper provides an overview of the strategic issues…

This report focuses on changes in the enrollment of credit students at Hudson County Community College (HCCC) (New Jersey) during the period 1990-1999. The data permit two types of comparisons: HCCC over time and HCCC relative to the other 18 community colleges in New Jersey. Highlights include: (1) HCCC entered the decade as the 15th largest…