The effects of classroom assessment environment (CAE) variables on yearly achievement in mathematics and science in grades 7 through 12 were studied through the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), using cohorts of approximately 3,000 students each in the 7th and 10th grades who were followed for 4 years. While the LSAY did not include all…

This document discusses a program designed to decrease students' off-task behaviors in order to help create a positive learning environment. The targeted population consisted of elementary students from two midwestern communities. Children attended schools in both lower-middle class and upper-middle class schools. The problem of off-task behavior…

This book presents the concept that quality as a keystone philosophy in today's business world can be applied to school systems as a means to improving education and all aspects of school culture, producing a school of quality. The author uses examples such as Japan's adopting William E. Deming's quality-control principles to help it skyrocket…

Technology education has been listed as a new basic requirement in the curriculum for graduate students at universities and colleges in China for seven years. The purpose of this study is to explore Chinese graduate students' and teachers' perceptions about the technology class--what these students consider to be helpful and what they perceive to…

This study investigated who preservice teachers considered responsible for the moral development of their students. The study involved a qualitative examination of the journal responses of 30 preservice teachers to two questions: the extent to which schools are moral environments and the extent to which it is the teacher's responsibility to foster…

A study examined rural school administrators' perceptions of their jobs and how academic achievement and school climate were affected at rural schools that shared principals, compared to rural schools that had their own principal. Sixteen rural school administrators from across the nation were interviewed about their perceptions of their jobs, and…

One of the most enduring challenges facing the public school system is decreasing the dropout rate. The highest rate of growth population in the future will be among the groups who are at greatest risk of dropping out of school. This paper outlines what school officials can do to decrease the dropout rate. The suggestions for dropout prevention…

This paper reports on a comparative study of the use of asynchronous (bulletin board) and synchronous (chat) discussion on three learning units based on the cognitive maps developed by the learners. Cognitive maps have been found to be an effective tool for learners for discussion in a distributed learning environment. Cognitive maps provided…

This paper documents a single year in the history of Navajo education from the perspective of the Navajo Agent Dennis Matthew Riordan. It draws on Riordan's correspondence, 1882-83, with the Secretary of the Interior, with Captain Richard Henry Pratt at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and with his brother. In December 1882, Riordan arrived…

This paper is directed to policy and practice leaders interested in making urban secondary and postsecondary learning environments more widely available, especially to young people who have not been well-served by the large, impersonal high schools dominating most cities. Section 1, "Coming of Age in a Time of Economic and Demographic Change,"…

This study examined secondary school teachers' perceptions of their school-level environment and its influence on implementation of outcomes-based education (OBE). Participating schools were in South Africa's Limpopo Province (one of its poorest rural provinces) and were implementing Curriculum 2005, a new outcomes-based approach to teaching and…

Boston Pilot Schools were created in 1994 to promote increased choice options within the school district. Unlike most urban public schools, the Pilot Schools have control over budget, staffing, curriculum, governance, and time, though they continue to operate within the Boston Public Schools. This report examines quantitative indicators of Boston…

This report reviews efforts to reform urban schools, focusing on initiatives in Tennessee and California as examples from which distric leaders may draw useful lessons. The report suggests that comprehensive school reform (CSR) offers promise to struggling urban schools by focusing on transforming the academic climate, school culture, and…

The concept of school culture offers principals and other leaders a broader framework for understanding problems and relationships within the school. School culture can be defined as the historically transmitted patterns of meaning that include the norms, values, beliefs, and myths understood by members of the school community. Researchers have…

"Smaller is better" is often the mantra of school leaders with regard to class size, while the benefits of smaller schools are ignored. Benefits of small classes seem obvious--teachers with fewer students could devote more time to each student. Conducted in 1985-89, Tennessee's Project STAR (Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio) found that…