Discusses two partnership programs between public schools and a university combining teacher education and practice. Over one year of the program, 25 education students contributed 15,000 hours of mentoring/teaching with each gaining over 600 hours of contact with students while observing, modeling and refining techniques presented in a concurrent…

By signing a Consent Decree in March 1996, the Los Angeles Unified School District admitted its system had serious problems in delivering special-education services to over 65,000 students and agreed to correct the problems in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This article explains how districts can incorporate…

Presents results of a school-restructuring case study involving a high school participating in the Coalition of Essential Schools and RE: Learning Project. Nine common coalition principles were implemented, primarily within the school-within-a-school program. Barriers included staff jealousy, political controversy, decreased staff development…

Explores the progress of Fenway Middle College High School, in its third year as a Boston pilot school (an in-district charter-school alternative). Significant areas of autonomy remain untested. Fenway learned the value of an experienced, caring, diverse faculty; networking and reorganization opportunities; and idealism to counter "bigger is…

A National Association of College and University Business Officers survey of 153 institutions revealed the ways in which beginning, somewhat experienced, and experienced users of continuous quality improvement (CQI) management principles have implemented them. The three categories of implementers are profiled, and best practices are identified.…

Because North Carolina's telecommunications services have been unable to provide cost-effective, statewide dial-access service to public libraries, the state library has had to identify a suitable alternative for public library network access. This article outlines the state library's efforts to provide access to the Internet and to electronic…

Describes the design and implementation of a system for the selective dissemination of information (SDI) from news articles via the World Wide Web, in Chinese and English, that focuses on multi-language filtering tools and follows a client-server model. System architecture and user-interest modeling are discussed. (LRW)

Describes the implementation of a character education program in one New Jersey school system. The program, developed by school and community members, includes all value-related issues and occurs throughout the system (including school buses, playgrounds, and extracurricular activities). Adults model good values, and children are taught values…

The Chesapeake (Virginia) Public Schools developed a strategic school-improvement plan with 178 recommendations representing certain goals: school safety, standards, effectiveness, efficiency, staff training, technology integration, community involvement, and facilities. The implementation process consisted of assigning responsibilities,…

Educators concerned about school safety have resorted to searching students, their lockers, and their possessions. These searches have led to litigation over whether the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures applies to public schools. Although courts have upheld reasonable searches, administrators should carefully…

Arizona's "exemplary" charter-school legislation illustrates how three underlying ideologies (antibureaucracy, market-based education, and teacher professionalism) play out in practical terms. Although Arizona charter schools are achieving stability via independent financial status and real-time funding, many have monitoring…

Examines equity consequences of Tennessee's 1992 education finance reform. Assesses concurrent changes in student performance over the funding formula's phase-in period, addressing test-score distribution and movement toward adequacy. Results are mixed. Tennessee should consider incorporating an outcome-based, adequacy funding approach to achieve…

This article provides guidelines for knowing when to institutionalize peer-mediated instruction and interventions (PMII), and generalization techniques familiar to special educators are linked specifically to institutionalization of PMII. Barriers and promoters of sustained PMII in schools are identified, with implications for how stakeholders…

Examines the cost-effectiveness of ITV (interactive television) in seven school districts participating in a cooperative educational association. In all cases, providing the courses on site was far less costly than supporting the courses through distance education. Average cost savings would have ranged from 622 percent to 78 percent. (Contains 12…

Investigates the use of faculty book clubs as a way to introduce middle school teachers to acclaimed adolescent literature in hopes that they might incorporate the literature read into their language arts and social studies classes. Finds that such clubs are an excellent way to provide staff development in the area of adolescent literature for…