Describes how school districts can use performance contracting to help save energy dollars without sacrificing efficiency or comfort. In performance contracting, building improvements and upgrades are installed without using funds from the current budget. Money saved in future energy bills is then used to pay for the project. (RJM)

Discusses a non-traditional approach to school planning and redesign that provided one school district's middle school with the best learning environment for its students and community. The use of performance contracting and privatization of school services are addressed, including the benefits of the positive student response to their new school.…

To help keep students alcohol- and drug-free, some principals have extended local school policies beyond campus boundaries. Before proceeding, principals must consider who should frame the policy, appropriate verification procedures, policy parameters, and policy initiation particulars. A Maryland high school's cocurricular participation contract…

The superintendent/board relationship continues to be a subject of particular interest for those who study school leadership and those who serve in the superintendency. One issue that will likely be addressed during any superintendent employment discussion is the inclusion of pay for performance incentives. The widespread use of executive bonuses…

Sample student learning contracts and job (task) cards, which have been used successfully with junior high school students, are collected in this document. The sample contracts in the areas of reading, writing, and language arts show a variety of formats and point systems for earning grades. The job cards, which can be placed in a learning…

Suggestions for teaching eighth-grade students to write 20 different types of poetry are presented in this unit from the Greenfield Express Management System (GEMS) program, a California Demonstration Program in Reading. A project overview form from the California Centers for Educational Improvement (CCEI) describes the GEMS program and lists…

This report offers constructive comments on several of the innovative management tools implemented by the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Issues addressed with respect to the agency's service resource allocation formula include (1) strengths of the formula; (2) whether the allocation formula is intended to create performance…

Reviewing the advantages and many disadvantages of conventional grading systems, the article discusses pass/fail grading, suggests the contract system as a solution, and describes a sample contract for a beginning high school child development class. (MW)

Five models of independent learning are suitable for use in adult education programs. The common factor is a facilitator who works in some way with the student in the learning process. They display different characteristics, including the extent of independence in relation to content and/or process. Nondirective tutorial instruction and learning…

Unintended pregnancies occur among young people who are sexually active and who do not take sufficient precautions to prevent pregnancy. Two major factors identified as contributing to unintended pregnancy are the lack of knowledge and skill in family planning and inconsistency in use of contraceptives. A pretest-posttest experiment was conducted…

Much of the practice of community health nurses is focused on health promotion. Nurse-client contracting has been used with clients experiencing hypertension, diabetes, or arthritis. A study was conducted to determine whether nurse-client contracting would be useful as a method for providing nursing care to assist sexually active young women to…

Based on the idea that a wide range of individualization in the classroom is necessary to both stimulate the students and to meet their needs, this paper presents a complete course in English Literature based on the learning contract system. Included in the paper are a course outline with the objectives and the rules for the class; a title page…

This publication is part of a series of self-instructional teacher training manuals designed to assist vocational-technical educators or industrial trainers to develop and implement competency-based vocational education (CBVE) programs. The purpose stated for this manual is for the instructor to learn to write a Student Performance Contract. Each…

Background information and resources to help students in grades 9-12 in Texas pursue an individual study contract in applied music is presented. To fulfill a contract students must publicly perform from memory, with accompaniment as specified, three selections from a list of approved music for their chosen field (instrument or voice). Material…