In 1989-90, 73,793 surveys were administered to students, teachers, other campus professionals, campus administrators, and parents in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD). This report addresses findings related to key topics associated with school strengths, problems, and quality as well as school climate and effectiveness. Survey…

This document, one of more than 100 performance-based vocational teacher education modules, covers the following objectives as it prepares pre- and inservice teachers to develop an active personal philosophy of education: (1) after completing the required reading, demonstrate knowledge of the need for developing and maintaining a personal…

This newsletter issue focuses entirely on classroom instruction in adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs. The first article, "Whole Language and Adult Literacy Education" (Kazemek), describes 10 principles of holistic language education and how they may be translated into actual classroom practice.…

An analysis of the relationship between teachers' work culture and the school's social context is the purpose of this study, with a focus on teachers' shared psychological work orientations as components of a teacher culture. The methodology relates high school teachers' attitudes in two high schools to different social contexts with the cultural…

Intended for teachers in Tasminia, this book focuses on the school setting as a place that supports children as language users. The booklet suggests that when setting out to develop a language program teachers need a knowledge of the relationship between child development and language acquisition; an understanding of how the organization of the…

This paper addresses the long-term impact of a school improvement effort of the Milwaukee public schools known as Project RISE (Rising to Individual Scholastic Excellence). Each school replicated the following characteristics of effective schools: (1) strong leadership by the principal; (2) high expectations conveyed by the entire staff; (3)…

When school psychologists adopt an organization development perspective they are acting on a cluster of related concepts: (1) that because schools are social organizations, school effectiveness depends on the school's organizational culture; (2) that attempts to institute educational reforms only work when the reforms and the school culture mesh;…

A survey of 196 elementary and secondary education teachers attending graduate programs in the University of Central Florida's College of Education provided data supporting previous research on teacher isolation. Over 80 percent of the teachers felt their classrooms were private worlds entered only by themselves and their students. The teachers…

The changes in written and spoken Spanish proficiency of two college students during a semester of study in Spain are examined in their oral and written performance and in their grades at a Spanish university. Both students were initially rated, according to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines, at…

Comparative data from three middle schools, all in one large urban school district in the Pacific Northwest, are used to identify criteria for evaluating student discipline policies and to generate theoretical statements of how school administration affects student behavior. An introduction summarizes the study's goals and assumptions and…

This paper describes the presentations made at a symposium of behavioral scientists conducting research on school disorder and delinquency prevention. The application of a climate assessment battery in organizational development and the evaluation of disciplinary programs in schools is described. The "Effective Schools Battery" (ESB)…

This study is a compendium of information regarding the policy and practice of religious education in publicly-funded schools in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, in England, the United States, Australia, and with less detail, in several countries of Western Europe. Most information was acquired from published sources, but letters…

This study compared the academic achievement and other outcomes of three public fundamental elementary schools with three regular elementary schools in a metropolitan school district. Modeled after the John Marshal Fundamental School in Pasadena, California, which opened in the fall of 1973, fundamental schools differ from regular schools in that…

Sensitivity to context variables marks the third phase of effective schools research (ESR). The first phase was one of explicit concern for equity, challenging the works of Coleman and Jencks which suggested that achievement differences were more associated with family background than school variables. This research focused on low socioeconomic…

Case studies of a Southern Appalachian urban middle-class family, a rural lower-class family, and a rural middle-class family illustrate the nature of Appalachian ethnicity and its relationship to school experience. The variables of ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and rural/urban residence are investigated through structured interviews with…