Researchers at Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) recently completed a study of "beat-the-odds" schools--high-needs schools that demonstrated atypically high student achievement. This policy brief draws from the report of the study's findings, "High-Needs Schools--What Does It Take to Beat the Odds?"…

Discusses discrimination in medical school settings and dominant group strategies to comply with remedial requirements while trying to maintain their dominance. Describes how minority women medical students experience double discrimination, based on stereotyped notions of their qualifications (as minorities) to study medicine and their dedication…

Problems and issues encountered in adolescent West Indians' adjustment to living and learning in Canada are discussed, including parent-child separation, physical and social environment, home-school values conflicts, language habits and problems, rural-urban differences, and student reactions to these influences. Suggestions are made for assisting…

Examines ways to strengthen the middle school's relationship with parents of special needs adolescents. Focuses on establishing a transition plan between elementary and middle school, maintaining ongoing communication with families, providing a variety of advisory options, and generating a school climate of acceptance for all students and…

Examines the objections of parents' rights advocates to middle school philosophies and programs. Considers how to address parental concerns about middle level education, including grouping students for learning; integration of curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and school climate. Recommends that middle schools focus on academic achievement,…

Discussion of cable television focuses on its use in the classroom. Topics include the learning environment; design, preparation, and delivery of instruction; teacher-learner interactions; examples of cable television use in the classroom; program development; equipment infrastructure; costs; and current trends and federal legislation. (LRW)

Traces the changes in educational philosophy and practices that occurred within England's civic universities. The original intent of the state supported public universities was to provide professional and technical training for the growing middle class. Discusses the reasons that the civics eventually adopted the curriculum of the elite private…

Surveys some of the more prominent views on education during the final years of tsarist Russia. Russian pedagogical thinking was largely influenced by progressive educational theories popular in the United States and Europe. Discusses the views and efforts of major Russian educational theorists at the time. (MJP)

Presents the results of a survey concerning parents' satisfaction with their schools and specific areas that needed improvement. Responses among inner-city blacks and whites were very similar with both groups giving priority to better teachers, more security, and better buildings. Includes statistical and tabular data analyzing the responses (MJP)

Examines the size of child-care-center spaces as a factor for designing developmentally appropriate facilities. Explores a range of architectural and design issues related to the size of spaces and ways of subdividing rooms to provide opportunities for small-group, quiet activities that are important to quality child care. (AA)

Examines the size of child care centers as a factor in designing developmentally appropriate facilities. Proposes as a general principle that, whenever a center is to house more than 75 children, it should be partially decentralized into a village, campus, or articulated series of interconnected houses, with each module serving no more than 60 to…

Analyzes and critiques several theoretical assumptions concerning moral education. Maintains that current theoretical approaches contain such a broad variation that they lack practical application. The singular focus on individuals and their interactions presents another problem. Advocates reformulating theoretical concepts to address these…

Questionnaires that were developed to measure factors in the academic persistence of minority college students were administered to 454 Mexican American students at two large southwestern universities. Both the Cultural Congruity Scale and the University Environment Scale were significant predictors of academic persistence of Mexican American…

Provides an overview of the criticism leveled at the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) in teaching economics. Proposes an alternative use of TQM that relies more on traditional student-teacher interaction. The alternative TQM uses quality circles, one-minute papers, and quality check sheets. (MJP)

Reports the analysis of entries in journals kept by Vietnamese teachers enrolled in teacher education programs for teaching English to speakers of other languages in Australia. Notes ways in which overseas students can be given support by those responsible for teaching English as a foreign language. (Six references) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for…