Since 1988, teacher surveys and interviews have been conducted in the 24 professional development schools (PDS) in Jefferson County (Kentucky) Public Schools to document teachers' attitudes toward efficacy and empowerment and toward their schools' learning climate. The 1990-1991 survey results show that teachers seem to have positive opinions of…

A popular instrument purported to measure psychological dimensions of school climate--the Charles F. Kettering Ltd. School Climate Profile (CFK)--was analyzed psychometrically. Factor analysis was used to examine the construct validity of the CFK scale, Part A, General Climate Factors, which contains 8 subscales each with 5 items (a total of 40…

This 2-year longitudinal study is being conducted better to understand the lives of secondary school students as they move from one social setting to another and to draw implications for learning as teachers are provided with a more holistic picture. The study describes students' interrelationships with family, school, and peers; perceptions of…

The problem of poor school climate in an eighth- and ninth-grade center was addressed by the implementation of a school climate improvement project. The following are the primary goals of this practicum: (1) improve school attendance; (2) reduce out-of-school suspensions; and (3) improve student and teacher morale. To address these goals, a…

The national movement to reform education has paid little attention to the preparation and development of bilingual teachers. Recruitment and retention of bilingual teachers and the adoption of competencies and standards for bilingual teachers and teaching are two of the most important and pressing issues facing bilingual education in this…

Eight issues of this research journal on gifted children include the following topics: (1) Profile of a Gifted Child: The Johns Hopkins Program for Mathematically Precocious Youth--Fall 1986; (2) The Impact of the Arts on Our Civilization: Excerpts from Colloquium III (Louisville, Kentucky)--Summer 1987; (3) Why Are Asians so Smart? An…

Intended to facilitate dialogue between concerned parents and school administrators and teachers, this booklet explores issues of intellectual freedom in elementary and secondary school education. Following an introduction outlining the conditions necessary for a productive exchange between parents and the schools, the booklet discusses the…

Despite the legal mandate for fulltime school participation between the ages of 6 and 18 and the mandate for high school completion, many youths do not fulfill these expectations and are viewed as dropouts. To investigate the characteristics of seventh and eighth grade students who leave school and the reasons why they do so, school personnel in…

Factors that govern effective student learning and ways to improve the learning environment are analyzed, with specific reference to England. In acknowledging the academic importance of motivation, maturity, and effective study methods, attention is directed to the way that these can be developed and encouraged within the present educational…

In order to promote voluntary integration in two high schools and a middle school, the Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas developed a magnet program that offers specialized curricula: engineering at the all black Dunbar High School, finance at the predominantly black Polytechnic High School, and communications at Dunbar Middle School.…

To determine whether the creative-adventure playground model functions as an effective extension of the classroom, researchers at Northern Illinois University's Early Childhood Education Research Laboratory studied the effects of playground participation on the development of visual-motor integration in 32 preschool boys and girls aged 3 to 4.5.…

This report contains findings and discussion concerning the influence of contextual factors upon the student teaching experience. Introductory remarks explain the rationale for the study as well as the substance of other documents resulting from it. A section describing methodology reports that data for the study were collected from two sites: a…

This six-chapter book describes professional practices found in good schools and presents practical ideas for implementing the indicators good schools have in common. The first chapter, "Recognizing Good Schools," discusses school philosophy and the qualities of an educated person. A "Good School Check List" is also presented. Among topics…

A longitudinal, process-oriented study was conducted to compare the content and effects of day care attendance with care in the home. Collection of baseline data involved 120 children of 12 through 18 months of age. Sixty of these children spent their weekdays in 1 of 12 day care centers, while the other 60 were cared for in homes by their mothers…

This qualitative interpretivist study analyses the perceptions of a stratified and purposive sample of university-based adult educators with a view to understanding how they perceive the effectiveness of adult education as a contributor to national development in southern Africa at the beginning of the 21st century. These perceptions of…