This booklet summarizes findings of a study, the Effective Schools Project, which sought to promote public discussion about improving educational quality in Australia. Questionnaires that were distributed with 300,000 booklets elicited a total of 7,203 responses from principals, parents, staff, and schools. Respondents were asked to identify the…

Like the three previous editions, this book is organized into three parts: "Organizational Realities and Societal Impingements,""Leadership and Management Tasks and Functions," and "Leadership Processes." However, the book's composition and substance reflect the new demands on principals. Part 1 has four chapters…

When transferring the methods of quality management from industry to academia, there are important differences that must be considered. This paper describes the differences between traditional management and quality management, and shows how Deming's principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) can be applied to education. Some of these principles…

This monograph describes a number of successful solutions that have been used in schools involved in school improvement planning. Problem-solving strategies used by schools across the United States to address various situations are described, in which each school focused on student achievement and teaching learning for all students. The practices,…

This report, in examining higher education accountability, reviews how student assessment is used nationally and in Utah to improve higher education accountability, and reviews the methods used in Utah to monitor faculty workload. Student assessments do provide a direct method of evaluating higher education effectiveness, and Utah's institutions…

This study investigated 140 New York State public elementary and secondary schools to determine the extent to which teacher perceptions of effective schools correlates as determined by the New York State Education Department are associated with student achievement, when student background variables are used as controls. The State Education…

Findings of a study that examined Chicago teachers' attitudes about school-based management are presented in this paper. A questionnaire was administered to 60 teachers in a Chicago public elementary school that had been involved in a restructuring program for 2 years. A majority of the teachers expressed positive opinions of the school-based…

This report summarizes a poll of Canadian opinion on education. Most people gave the schools in their community a B (39 percent) or C (35 percent), suggesting a relatively high degree of satisfaction with schools. Some 29 percent of the population indicated that schools have improved over the past 4 years, 20 percent indicated they have become…

Adolescence was the focus of an Urban Development Forum, a component of the Research for Better Schools, that explored the factors of effective schooling in terms of their impact on young people in large, urban systems. This forum featured a major presentation by Joseph Adelson. Focusing his presentation on the cognitive growth in adolescence, he…

Three myths eroding the foundations of public confidence and support for the public school system upon which the climate and performance of the schools depend are discussed: (1) the students are no good--they aren't learning as much as they used to; (2) the schools are no good--they don't help students learn anything anymore; and (3) the teachers…

Since 1983, Arkansas schools have undergone vast changes to improve the quality of education in the state. The Arkansas State Supreme Court had ruled that the state school aid distribution formula was unconstitutional and needed to be rewritten. A standards committee examined the curriculum offerings of 382 secondary schools in 365 districts and…

During the 1980s in the province of Saskatchewan there have been many initiatives from government, trustee and teacher organizations, universities, and school systems to respond to dramatic changes in rural school communities. Between 1979 and 1987 rural schools experienced a decline in student enrollment of 12%. To deal with the changing profiles…

Aimed at both practicing administrators and university education professors, this book discriminates among certain "E-words" ("effective,""efficient,""excellent," and "empowerment") in the educational reform lexicon. According to the introductory chapter, levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and…

This white paper on educational accountability was written in response to a request from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE). Of major concern in this study of accountability are the distinctions between system-level and institutional-level obligations. The concept of accountability is developed and related to other important…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Effective schools have effective leaders. Much of what the school does to promote achievement is within the principal's power to influence and control. Specifically, there are six leadership behaviors that have been consistently associated with schools that are well managed and whose students…