This guide is designed to provide assistance in handling complex situational conflicts involving diversity through appropriate conflict management strategies for diverse classrooms at the elementary and middle school levels. Diversity-based conflict is not new in the United States. The classroom is, as it has been historically, one of the major…

In recent times, sociological constructs have been used to examine school culture, viewing schools as learning communities rather than formal organizations. This paper describes use of the School Cultural Elements Questionnaire (SCEQ) to investigate the culture of schools in Western Australia. The SCEQ was first administered to 422 teachers in 8…

This report presents national data on teachers and teaching from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and other sources. Where data permit, the report compares findings from the early to mid-1990s with findings from the 1980s. The report addresses a wide range of topics related to teachers and teaching, including teachers' demographic…

In 1992-93 a client satisfaction plan for teachers was developed and implemented in the Virginia Beach (Virginia) public school system. This report describes the processes of design and implementation as well as preliminary findings from the field test of a survey soliciting parent perceptions of teacher performance. Although students were…

Dropping out of school is an event in a long series of life stresses. This paper gives the results of an in-depth ethnographic study of 11 at-risk females at a high school in the greater New York metropolitan area. The primary themes that emerged from the students were centered around their desire to have adults communicate with them in a…

The use of computers in English departments, especially in composition classes, has become a primary site of contention between those who find technology liberating and those who find only new configurations of the same old hierarchies. Much of the excitement stems from a perceived connection between new classroom technologies and current theories…

This paper proposes an integrative approach for teaching English as a second language to students in Hong Kong to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in English to meet the challenge of an English curriculum. The integrative approach provides an authentic language environment for learners to develop language skills in a…

The two articles in this issue of "Network" report on the comments of speakers and participants in the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) 1992 Networkshop. "Systemic Reform: Teachers and the Conditions of Teaching," discusses: the evolution and definition of systemic reform; systemic reform in relation to systems involving federal…

An investigation was conducted to determine how many studies have been done, and on what subjects, in the field of education in Israel over the last 20 years. The study was based on the Israeli database "Current Research in the Social Sciences in Israel," which covers education among its topics. The database includes publications in…

This study evaluated a program for meeting the needs of at-risk students in a Virginia elementary school. The program, known as the "community approach," was designed to foster the success of at-risk students by increasing parent involvement, allowing more time for student development, improving students' self-esteem and self-control, and…

Professional development for teachers is a continuous process of individual and collective examination of practice. This publication first identifies reasons why traditional staff development often fails and several prerequisites for effective professional development. These include establishing real stakes for students; providing incentives for…

The magnitude of crime, violence, victimization, and associated disruption in the urban schools of the United States severely impairs the educational process and the normal psychological development of many students. The problems of urban schools result from the problems of the larger community, but the community also holds the solutions to…

Researh in motivation and learning has demonstrated that differences in instructional practice influence the salience of learning and ability goals for students. This study considers several factors that may influence teachers' emphases in instructional practices--teachers' pedagogical beliefs, their achievement goals for their students, and their…

A case study was done of Central Park East Elementary School (CPE 1), in New York City, a school with a reputation for extraordinary work with students and their families in a student-centered environment. The study includes an overview of CPE 1 culled from the school's descriptions of itself and other public documents; a descriptive narrative of…

Testimony on strategies designed to enhance educational opportunities for disadvantaged students is recorded in this report of a congressional hearing. Robert Slavin of the Early and Elementary School Program, Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (Maryland) testified about…