Open communication among administrators, teachers, and students leads to a more effective learning environment. Teachers who are treated fairly by administrators will pass this sensitivity and humanity on to their relationships with students. Administrators can take a number of steps to establish a communication forum and a school climate that…

It has been postulated that in effective schools, there is less variability in student achievement according to socioeconomic status. This study was to investigate the amount of variation in student scores for effective and ineffective schools. Data were utilized from all 500 Pennsylvania school districts. The variance in student achievement was…

Analysis of two studies related to academic achievement (Atkinson, Lens, and O'Malley, 1976; Entwisle and Hayduk, 1978) and of the effective-schools literature provides a picture that helps us to understand why the ability of poor children is not reflected in their school performance and what schools might do to remedy this situation. The…

When remedying deficiencies disclosed by national educational reform commissions, school districts must be as concerned with quality as with quantity. In response to a demand by 17 school districts to study their schools' effectiveness, Emporia State University's College of Education (Kansas) has developed an assessment model and initiated a…

The characteristics and activities of schools with positive public images were identified in order to guide other schools in their efforts to reestablish effective relations with their communities. Recent polls reflect a serious decline in the public view of education, and the resulting confidence gap has created much difficulty for American…

The Staff Development for School Improvement Project (SDSI) combined the resources of Wayne State University with 19 schools from 15 school districts in the Detroit (Michigan) metropolitan area. The university provided a facilitator to guide each school through the following six-step change process: (1) awareness, readiness, and commitment; (2)…

The usefulness of the value-added model in assessing community college effectiveness, especially for nontraditional students and programs, is examined. A case study in which community college students beginning with low academic qualifications transferred into a university shows that they performed well compared to students starting at the…

Four elements relating to effective educational leadership are summarized. How effective leaders use goals, staffing, the environment, and motivation/reinforcement are discussed. Most of these elements are supported by research literature taken from studies done on effective schools or effective teaching. (Author)

A discussion of recent developments and research on school improvement efforts precedes a review of information needs for broadening the data base on implementation and evaluation of innovative school improvement programs for handicapped and nonhandicapped students. A table matches effective classroom learning environments and expected student…

When features of the "excellence" and "choice" movements in education are compared, these two orientations appear dissimilar. This article shows how the two can be united by broadening the definition of excellence so that all schools become schools of choice. Choice, then, becomes an ingredient in the pursuit of excellence. (VM)

A conceptual framework is presented, based upon a review of relevant literature sources, as well as upon preliminary impressions from a study of effective schools in California. This framework involves 14 variables that are discussed at length. (CT)

St. Alphonsus School in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, has strong academic traditions and a caring atmosphere. The factors that make this school an effective one are discussed. (MT)

The purpose of this study is to examine two large scale in-service training programs concerning Sweden's local school development. Specifically reports on relationship between centrally-introduced school reforms and response of local school management to those reforms. (BSR)

The two main approaches used to educate the gifted, enrichment and acceleration, have not been sufficiently evaluated to inform policy-makers. Future studies of giftedness should focus on understanding the intellectual, social, and personality processes involved, and on developing and evaluating appropriate educational programs. (Author/VM)

Based on data from a nationally representative sample of 14,000 elementary school children, this study finds that principal behavior and attributes significantly influence individual student achievement. These results affirm major conclusions of recent case studies and claim that schools make a difference. (Includes 2 tables, 5 notes, and 30…