The purpose of this three-part report is to identify the competencies of high-performing principals, based on a study conducted by the Florida Council on Educational Management (FCEM). Part I reviews the background that led to the study of the principalship. It describes the factors leading to the creation of legislation that focused on the role…

As part of the High School and Beyond study, a large nationally representative sample of students was asked whether they lived with their mother, a stepmother, their father, or a stepfather in their sophomore year and again in their senior year of high school. Family configurations consisting of two-parent, one-parent, and stepparent families were…

This study investigated the seating patterns of target students in science classrooms to see if there was an action zone or t-zone present. Fifty-six physical science and chemistry classes were observed using the Brophy-Good Teacher-Child Dyadic Observation System. Target students were identified and their interactions were compared to non-target…

A study analyzed and compared the classroom interactional strategies of two teachers of Catalan immersion classes and one teacher of Spanish as a native language in Spain at the kindergarten level. The theoretical framework guiding the study is based on analysis of the native-speaker/non-native-speaker distinction. Two comparisons were made: (1)…

The increased presence of drugs and weapons in schools has forced school officials to step up searches of students, lockers, and school property. The landmark case of "New Jersey vs. TLO" set standards concerning reasonable suspicion and reasonable searches. School officials must be familiar with recent court opinions on student…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an educational and treatment program for high school dropouts initiated by a private alternative school contracting with a graduate school of social work. The Cassata Program, a joint effort by the Cassata Learning Center and the University of Texas at Arlington, was designed to improve students' academic…

This keynote talk addresses future trends in educational administration and reviews the ways in which attention to professional development for school administrators can help people to become better prepared for the challenges of today and tomorrow. Future trends include (1) a growing awareness of the importance of instructional leadership; (2)…

A policy statement on the president and governing board developed by the Committee on Policies and Purposes of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is presented, and the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of the governing board and the college president are outlined. The role of the U.S. college or university…

Noting that collaboration can enhance children's ability to solve problems of increasing difficulty, this paper discusses the theory of collaborative talk in the classroom and how it can be applied. The first section of the paper introduces the notion of collaborative talk by describing a classroom setting and offering an excerpt of two children…

This paper records the experiences of two teacher educators at a small liberal arts college who attempted to deliver instruction in ways that were designed to meet the needs of individual preservice students. The program was individualized for the students in three ways: (1) the pace of instruction was matched with the abilities of individual…

The Mainstream Assistance Team (MAT) project is a 3-year research program designed to develop, implement, and validate a prereferral intervention model. The model is a least-restrictive, preventative, ecologically-based, problem-solving approach, using a multidisciplinary team composed of a school psychologist, special educator, and general…

Adults' responses to a survey of television viewing were investigated to examine the premise that respondents assume that the range of precoded response alternatives reflects the researcher's knowledge of the distribution of opinions or behaviors in the population. Responses are, therefore, a function of the response alternatives provided.…

The purpose of this paper is to review the research literature on effects produced by elementary school teachers and to identify implications of the findings for the early education of children prior to the first grade. Current issues in the research on teacher effects are discussed under the following headings: (1) teachers do make a difference;…

Noting that many of the functions undertaken by classroom teachers involve communication skills or skills dependent on an ability to communicate effectively, this paper outlines a course in speech communication specifically for teachers. The paper first lists the teaching, managing, and decision making activities teachers undertake that involve…

The effectiveness of horizontal evaluation for student teachers and their supervisors was explored through a qualitative analysis of three case studies. For the case studies, two of the supervising teachers were university-based, while the third was a secondary school teacher with no prior experience in supervising student teachers. The aim of the…