Offers suggestions for making urban communities efficient, attractive, safe, and supportive of education. Advises urban school leaders to set high expectations for students, build less bureaucratic administrative structures, initiate a comprehensive renewal program, and create a support network beyond the school. Includes 10 references. (MLH)

Examines the utility of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS) as a measure of child day care quality at eight child care centers in New Zealand. Notes discrepancies between findings of this study and of other studies in quality levels and items predictive of centers' total ECERS score. (RJC)

Reviews the decline in the number of U.S. one-room schools since 1930. Describes building characteristics, teacher qualifications, and student achievement at the remaining 837 one-room schools in 1984. Provides state statistics on the numbers of one-room schools in 1959, 1980, and 1984. (SV)

Critically reviews the major school reform studies. Apparently, billions have been wasted on poorly conceived, but politically popular reform movements that have sapped schoolpeoples' energies. Two reform-inhibiting factors (educators and politicians'"intuitive wisdom" and a weak empirical knowledge base) might be overcome by initiating…

Ethical leadership is the moral component of instructional leadership. Ethical guidelines for principals include respect for all members of society, tolerance for divergent opinions and cultures, equality of persons, and equal distribution of resources. Specific guidelines are provided to help principals exercise effective ethical leadership.…

A discussion of the Greek university system finds that most of the attention during retrenchment has focused on governance, with little concern for its administrative machinery. Administrative reforms that could allow the system to become more economical, academically effective, and accountable are suggested. (Author/MSE)

A recent study shows that effective middle-level principals identify key teacher leaders and involve them in the decision-making process. Informal teacher leaders are key in developing programs, climate, and curriculum within a school. Without teachers' acceptance, a program is doomed. To initiate change, principals must first sell their concept…

"Altering the normal flow" is the statement in Larry Lezotte's article (in same issue) that best describes changes in Illinois school district. Although district was well run when new superintendent took over, its internal change process geared toward learning for all proved more challenging than cooperating to pass a tax referendum.…

Describes a former principal's experience in turning around a largely black high school in Jackson, Mississippi. The "Callaway Action Plan for an Effective School" became the focal point for school action, team building, problem solving, celebration, and modification. Another learning-for-all experiment as associate superintendent of a…

School-effectiveness researchers have had difficulty quantifying stability in effectiveness over time. Responding to Peter Tymms's argument that Gray and associates have not provided an authoritative statistical analysis of school effectiveness (in a study of 30 British secondary schools), this article asserts that this study was concerned with…

Discusses the leadership of teacher librarians and development of a personal vision for creating excellent school library resource centers. Offers suggestions for the vision creating process. (17 references) (EA)

Examines trends in the incidence of retention, remediation, and identification of students as handicapped in 12 New York State elementary schools across a period of high-stakes assessment and public accountability (1978-79 to 1988-89). A significant increase in the proportion of children retained in grade or identified as handicapped occurred…

Strategic planning is a formalized process for shaping an organization's future. As a tool, strategic planning enables schools to (1) prioritize; (2) be proactive; (3) allocate scarce resources; (4) provide a point of differentiation and pride; and (5) link individuals' jobs to a common higher purpose. Provides a model. (MLF)

A survey of teachers examined principals' roles in influencing school effectiveness, noting the influence of supportive leadership style on a culture of trust and perceived school effectiveness. Results indicated supportive principal leadership produced collegiality and trust in principals but not in colleagues. Teacher trust in colleagues…

Advocates taking advantage of pedagogically driven new-generation information management systems (IMSs) to manage curriculum, instruction, and assessment in change-oriented schools seeking to enhance effectiveness. Delineates a curriculum information management model and describes an exemplar of a new generation of IMS software. Suggests…