Argues that government programs and regulations have hampered the effectiveness of public education, that efforts to involve parents and students in the running of schools have not resulted in democratic governance, and that giving adult rights to adolescents has created an imbalance of authority. Offers suggestions for correcting the imbalances.…

Offers ideas for minimizing problems connected with school newspapers. Includes a listing of the newspaper's functions; the responsibilities of the principal, the adviser, and the student staff; and general recommendations. (WD)

A teacher describes how he took control of a notoriously "tough" fifth and sixth grade class by opening lines of communication; establishing rules; designating responsibilities; emphasizing pride, self-control, and teamwork; and building confidence. (Author/SJL)

Students can effectively identify needed repairs before a service call is made by evaluating the operating condition of all classroom machines with the help of a typewriter evaluation checksheet such as the one illustrated in this article. Responsibilities of and benefits to students and teachers are listed. (CT)

Describes how a very small yearbook staff in a small high school worked through the year to produce a yearbook that preserved that year's history. (TJ)

Parents frequently blame the school when their child does not succeed, because they believe that everyone has a vested "right" to an education and that student failure is automatically teacher failure. Educators must work to refute these myths. (SJL)

Describes a process (AIR: Achievement, Improvement, Reflection) that helps students organize their portfolios and see their own achievement and improvement. (SR)

The Personal Responsibility Education Process (PREP) is a grass-roots approach to character education that seeks to strengthen student responsibility. Instead of promoting one set of values, it helps schools rediscover their own values and reinforce them. A sampling of several Missouri school districts illustrates the diversity of the process and…

The Peer Performance Assessment of Team Learning Model develops team learning, emphasizes teachers as facilitators, and requires students to be active, accountable participants. Features include peer assessment and feedback, self-assessment, team decision making, and reflective journals. (SK)

Although General National Vocational Qualifications purport to empower students through transfer-of-learning responsibility, a case study shows students used freedom for their own purposes but resisted the burden of managing their own work. In resisting empowerment, students may in fact be exercising power. (SK)

Surveyed first-year students at the University of Western Sydney about their perceptions of responsibility for learning and conceptions of learning. Found that students held perceptions of personal responsibility for their learning, but that their conceptions of learning were essentially quantitative in nature and were at the lower levels of…

Science notebooks are fixtures in many science classrooms, but are students using them to their full potential? Ideally, science notebooks should be tools for students to grapple with scientific concepts and make sense of their understandings using recording and organizing strategies that are personally meaningful. Many times, however, students…

Many school principals say that the toughest part of the day is recess. That's because recess is when most trouble starts. When the author asked one principal recently about recess, she promptly rattled off a list of headaches, such as "the teasing, the fights, the bullying, the injuries, the referrals." In this article, the author describes…

Each September in Wisconsin students return to school, football games draw enthusiastic crowds, and homecoming week is celebrated. Trees lose their leaves only to be re-adorned in white in that generation bridging tradition known as toilet papering. Community residents have differing opinions on "tp"ing, in large part determined by whether they…

Traditional parent-teacher conferences and student-led conferences are tools schools employ to convey student progress with parents. The student-led conference offers a valuable means for increasing student responsibility which allows students to take ownership in schooling, which in turn helped improve parent involvement and student motivation.…