This guide advocates making strategic decisions about instructional practices and focusing all school staff on aligning every aspect of school operations--from professional development to parent and community involvement--in order to support and sustain student achievement. The guide discusses how to set high standards for performance and presents…

Growing demands for accountability and useful measurement of educational outcomes have contributed to increasing efforts to develop or refine more valid and reliable methods of educational assessment. More states are designing high-quality indicator systems for evaluation at the school, district, and state levels. Seven recommendations derived…

Because future workers will experience rapid changes in both work technologies and jobs, and because America's wellbeing is dependent upon a successfully educated and highly skilled work force, students must develop the capacity to learn new skills and tasks quickly. The traditional school structure of passive student participation is not…

This annotated bibliography provides a recommended list of research and theoretical literature in the field of secondary education. It organizes the literature into three main topics: (1) references of general interest; (2) reform strategies designed to promote academic achievement; and (3) literature relevant to the specific research projects…

This 20-month study describes an elementary school principal, John Meyer, and examines his leadership behaviors. From an effective schools perspective, the principal is seen as the white knight who "saves" the children by providing an effective school. John Meyer is known as a "turnaround" principal who came to Garvin School (located in a Missouri…

Characteristics and practices of effective schools have been identified and it is important to determine whether these practices work with at-risk youth. Effective schools research may yield useful knowledge in educating at-risk youth or research could warn that the effective schools movement could threaten the education of at-risk youth if not…

Nine elementary and middle schools participating in Project SHAL, a large-scale school effectiveness project in St. Louis, Missouri, served as the sample for a study of how principals derive their influence and power. Three of the schools were identified as "high-achieving," and six were identified as "other" (none of the…

Despite the claims of conventional wisdom, business and education can learn from each other. An examination of "In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best Run Companies," by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, reveals several ideas and practices that schools can use effectively. (1) A bias for action: hold daily administrative…

This annotated bibliography, which includes publishers' addresses and prices, provides an overview of the research on effective schools, the implications of this research, and implementation efforts. Titles of four videotapes, two cassette tapes, and seven books are included. Also listed are the names of charter members of the editorial board of…

This paper is a case study of a recently reconceptualized teacher education program which has a critical inquiry base and an emphasis on "language across the curriculum." The paper describes the program's rationale, organization and practice along with a description of the ongoing process of program development. The goal of the Rockhurst…

Now that the school effectiveness field is maturing, more refined and contextually sensitive observations about schools are possible. This paper focuses on socioeconomic status (SES) as one social context variable demonstrating substantial predictive power in numerous school improvement studies. Instead of viewing middle class behavior as superior…

Concepts from organizational theory are used to interpret and review major findings of school effectiveness research to develop a broader perspective for understanding school effectiveness. Results of school-effectiveness research in the Netherlands are compared with those from research in the United States and England. A more-or-less established…

A self-organizing school, defined as one engaging in a continuous process in which staff assume authority and responsibility for the resources of the school, is described in this paper. The staff work together to organize learning activity around the needs and interests of each learner. The following requisite conditions are listed to accomplish…

Alternative and emergent organizational perspectives are potentially useful in studying the organization and operation of public elementary schools. In particular, the image of organizations as loosely coupled systems is applicable to educational organizations. Yet, recent research indicates that tight linkages enhance school effectiveness. This…

Educational research indicates that instruction is more effective when students work in cooperative learning groups, rather than in situations where competition and individualistic learning are emphasized. Specific steps are provided in this guide to help teachers acquire the skills needed for cooperative learning. The five principles that…