According to Tom Peters's book "Thriving on Chaos," change must become the norm, not cause for alarm. What Peters saw in the business world predominates in schools--the same inertia, fear of innovation, and rejection of technology. Schools can profit by taking Peters's advice about using research and changing antiquated teaching…

Analysis of educational statistics published by the Cuban government and by the United Nations (UNESCO) for 1969-88 focuses on enrollments in Cuban schools and colleges, student-teacher ratios, and the percentage of repeaters in each grade. Data tables include comparisons with other countries of Latin America and North America. (SV)

Provides national and state information on the number, type, size, and location of schools and districts. Also includes student race-ethnicity, participation in the Free Lunch program, and participation in special education services. Contains dropout data for selected states. (Author)

Provides estimates of key statistics for public elementary and secondary schools, including national and state data on revenues and expenditures and the numbers of teachers, students, and high school graduates. U.S. public schools enrolled approximately 46.3 million students, taught by an estimated 2.8 million teachers in school year 1998-99.…

Briefly examines recent trends in undergraduate economics degrees. Discovers that despite periodic cycles, the proportion of degrees awarded has remained fairly steady. Includes statistical tables detailing the number and percentage of economics baccalaureate degrees awarded by colleges and universities. Discusses possible reasons and implications…

Each year, "Education Vital Signs" takes a look at how demographics, finance, test scores, and other important school-related trends are changing across the United States. Information is presented in state-by-state charts broken down into three areas-achievement, finances, and school and classroom characteristics-across the nation's six regions.…

This article profiles 20 Web sites that can assist practitioners and researchers in locating statistics and resources on special education demographics. Web sites are divided into the following sections: authoritative reports regarding disabilities, federally funded centers on disability statistics, brief reports, specialized search tools, and…

Having data available is so important because it can improve upon our personal perceptions. Admittedly, statistics can sometimes be skewed to tell whatever story their handlers want them to tell, but by and large, high-quality data allow us to step back from personal perceptions and embark on an analysis with an eye toward identifying the root…

To help parents investigate and locate quality school districts and to help policy-makers, principals, and superintendents to make well-informed decisions about education, Standard and Poor's has launched a website called SchoolMatters.com. It is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and featured on its website (www.ed.gov/parents).…

"Race, ethnicity, and poverty are poor excuses for low expectations" (Monroe 1997, 111). Negro educators who forged an academic haven for secondary students in the early twentieth century held as strongly to this belief as did Monroe, an urban Black educator, a century and a half later. Whereas the American high school movement gained…

This article focuses on the reports produced by the National Center for Education Statistics which rely too much on subjective judgments. The two studies--which used data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress that were adjusted for student and school differences--reported generally favorable academic results for regular public…

Effective school studies, for the most part, have focused on different individual school-level independent variables influencing student achievement and have largely neglected examining contextual variables within the school or school community that may evolve as a result of responding to statewide accountability pressures, including examining how…

This compilation of statistical information covers prekindergarten through graduate school to describe the current American education scene. The "Mini-Digest" is designed as an easy reference for materials found in detail in the "Digest of Education Statistics, 2009". These volumes include selections of data from many…

High levels of disruptive behavior, discipline referrals, and suspensions are among the symptoms of schools which have lost the bonds of respect. Educators face major challenges in transforming these school cultures. This article describes how restorative practices were implemented in certain southeastern Pennsylvania schools. The process of…

The Tennessee School Climate Inventory was developed as part of a learning-environment information system to be used in a school-restructuring effort known as Positive Attitudes in Tennessee Schools (PATS). Initiated in Tennessee during the 1989-90 school year, the project sought to improve school-learning environments through school-leadership…