This booklet describes the characteristics of 19 Chicago area schools designated as winners in a 1984-85 recognition program entitled "For Character" sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago. These public and private elementary and secondary schools were outstanding in developing student character and academic learning.…

This bibliography presents brief annotations of 14 reports, books, and monographs on the education of black children. The works cited concern a wide variety of themes, including environmental influence on school performance, the social welfare of the black child, and school, community, and family responsibility. (KH)

This Bulletin investigates the role of the principal in fostering a school climate conducive to collegial supervision--teachers observing teachers and working together for instructional improvement. Chapter 1 attempts to put into perspective the traditional responsibilities of the principal as instructional leader and teacher evaluator. Collegial…

Possible impacts of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) criterion, Section III, Institutional Effectiveness, are considered. The way that one state university is approaching the new SACS' expectation on institutional effectiveness is examined. Attention is directed to: an effectiveness process model developed by a self-study…

The policy papers included in this package address various facets of the topic of data-based accountability for education in California. Guy Benveniste of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Education explores the underlying issue of accountability and describes the implications of different types of accountability measures. In…

Teacher and administrator responses to the Connecticut School Interview, conducted as part of the Spencerport (New York) More Effective Schools/Teaching Project, indicate that there are a number of correlates which can be considered areas of strength, and that steady improvement has occurred in installing correlates in each building and in…

An evaluation was made of the Effective Schools Program (ESP) conducted by the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) for the 1984-85 academic year. The ESP is a research-based program designed to foster self-sustained improvement efforts at the school building level, through systematic long term staff development including…

This issue contains several articles synthesizing research on effective schools conducted by the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL). Six "folios," or handouts, intended for dissemination to teachers, review the research and make specific suggestions for teachers on: (1) beginning the school year; (2) time management; (3)…

Using 1985 school enrollment data for persons 3 to 34 years old, this report discusses increases and decreases in overall enrollments by race and ethnicity. Data on school completion rates are also presented. They reveal that the Hispanic population of 3- to 24-year-olds is growing at a faster rate than either Blacks or Whites, and thus becoming a…

School improvement programs emphasizing certain school effectiveness correlates are now fairly common. While program implementation is often a focus of school effectiveness research, teacher efficacy and collaboration are also important. Large-scale aggregate studies viewing students' socioeconomic status as the chief determinant of academic…

Although it has been in the lexicon for 20 years, educational accountability remains an untested concept. Traditionally used in public service areas involving the stewardship of public funds, the term loses its legal-financial context when applied to educational settings. Here, accountability is mainly concerned with furthering school systems'…

In this paper a new conception of leadership for change is proposed--that of change facilitating leadership teams that are characterized by roles, functions, and team dynamics. As an introduction, the conventional descriptions of leadership in the literature are briefly cited. This is followed by a summary of recent studies and observations…

This booklet presents the concept of school effectiveness, the factors associated with effectiveness, and supporting research. Six factors of school effectiveness are discussed: (1) strong instructional leadership by the principal; (2) clear instructional focus; (3) high expectations and standards; (4) safe and orderly climate; (5) frequent…

Educators concerned with effectiveness outcomes have become increasingly involved with participative organizational and teaching practices designed to improve school climate. Since schools have traditionally emphasized "top down" management and decision-making procedures, few school districts have the experience or expertise to develop…

Coleman, Hoffer and Kilgore's claims regarding the effects of Catholic schools on cognitive achievement have evoked much controversy. Critics have argued that the cross-sectional testing data Coleman et al. used could not distinguish differential sector effectiveness from selection effects, i.e., that Catholic schools enroll students of superior…