The major purpose of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is to provide information useful for improving the quality of American elementary and secondary schools. NAEP has focused more on the measurement of academic achievement than on the need for information on learning contexts. Additional information is needed about why…

This manual was developed to help school personnel evaluate school health efforts. It is a nontechnical, practical guide that offers an overview of school health, including health education, health services, and a healthful school environment. A basic evaluation framework is presented for systematically identifying, planning, implementing, and…

Writing across the curriculum has become an educational reform movement that now questions the nature, purpose, and goals of educational institutions. Writing across the curriculum is based on premises such as the following: reading, writing, talking, and listening are the modes through which people think and learn; the more people write the…

This paper explores the mutual process by which a principal and teachers in an urban elementary school develop the principal's leadership. Data were collected for this research throughout a principal's first year through systematic observations (shadowing) of the principal; semi-structured interviews with teachers, administrators, parents, school…

This study examines an intervention in a Canadian school district that employed teacher and principal reassignment as a stimulus to professional growth. The researchers interviewed the transferred teachers and principals as well as a sample of nontransferred teachers, parents, and district trustees to explore the effect of transfer on the…

Catholic educators want students to do their best academically and become good Catholics. Challenges that make this goal difficult to accomplish include a changing environment within the Catholic school: staffs that were almost entirely composed of priests or religious are now almost entirely lay, and the tension between the school as an…

Intended for administrators and policy makers as well as teachers, this digest examines the notion of language across the curriculum, or teaching writing, reading, speaking, and listening as interdependent skills rather than as separate subjects. After defining language across the curriculum, the digest discusses the history and theory of this…

Results of a study involving 450 teachers in three California school districts show that two sets of standards exist for judging the effectiveness of teacher unions. For union leaders, legitimacy means keeping promises to teachers by winning concessions from management and, at the same time, working toward a more credible and cooperative…

The roles and conduct of teachers and principals have emerged as good indicators of effective schools. Research is presently being conducted on parent involvement and its effect on student learning. Good teacher-student interaction is crucial to effective learning. Teachers must have high expectations for students. Their techniques for…

The role of the college student union is discussed in this review of what makes a union successful. It is suggested that the truly successful one combines the concepts of unifying force, common meeting ground, and community in order to educate as well as generate revenue. Issues considered include: hiring and training employees; competition with…

This paper reviews research on school effects and teacher effects on student achievement. In general, academic learning is influenced by the amount of time that students spend engaged in appropriate academic activities. Students learn more efficiently when their teachers instruct them actively by structuring new information and helping them relate…

One of the best guarantees of a child's success in school is his or her parents' involvement in education. This resource guide provides information in the following areas: (1) family types; (2) expectations of parents, teachers, and administrators; (3) barriers encountered by parents and teachers; (4) home environment improvements through family…

This report assesses the effectiveness of the Napa County (California) Instructional Skills Staff Development Program, focusing on its impact on student achievement and student engaged rate in classrooms. The program, providing training for teachers and principals in administrative and instructional skills, is examined for outcomes in two schools,…

Outlined are the following 11 successful programs, projects, and activities functioning in Hawaii's intermediate schools: Alternative Learning Center (Waipahu and Pearl City Highlands); Career Awareness Exploring through Basic Practical Arts; Career Education Guidance (Kailua); Creating a Positive School Climate; Learning through the Arts;…

Findings are presented which provide information about the extent to which fundamental schools (learning in a highly structured setting with instructional emphasis placed on "basic" subjects) at the elementary and junior high school levels in a large school system in Virginia have achieved their objectives. In this report, four schools…