Projects successful in involving parents in their children's education include the following: (1) parents' reading with children; (2) letters to new parents; (3) library visits and booklists; (4) monthly suggestions for involvement; and (5) newspaper "promise" ads for students and parents to sign. While programs may seem "gimmicky," they engaged…

Takes issue with research findings on effective schools and discusses the differences between "effective" schools and "good" schools. The findings on effective schools are too often equated with desirable outcomes but fail to distinguish between "effectiveness" and "goodness." (MD)

Most organizational behavior literature recognizes the importance of guidance and good feelings (leader substitutes) in maximizing personal and organizational outcomes. In this study, teachers identified leader substitutes, not leader behavior, as significantly related to organizational commitment and role ambiguity. Includes 5 tables and 14…

Argues that the decline in higher education performance standards can be associated with the "new practicality" in the college curriculum. Argues that students and faculty are subject to pressures which condition their choices for the expedient, experiential, or entrepreneurial. Criticizes teachers who promote benign permissiveness, deflate…

A 1983-84 Alberta study examined the job satisfaction of senior high school principals and its relationship to these principals' perceptions of their influence, their effectiveness, and their school's effectiveness. The selected indicators and best predictors of these variables, and associations with demographic variables, also were identified.…

Educators, businessmen, and politicians talk about the quality and the future of elementary and secondary schools in America. (RM)

There are no easy solutions to the problem of building an outstanding basic skills program for handicapped children. This article analyzes reasons why children fail, describes the characteristics of outstanding schools and explains how teachers and administrators can achieve excellence. (Author/CB)

Reviews current practices in middle schools. Includes a listing of 24 practices used in effective middle schools extrapolated from a survey of literature on effective schools. (MD)

The principal assigned the task of transforming a "disruptive" junior high school into an effective middle school describes problems encountered and steps taken in the areas of staff development, shared power, the accountability system, human relations, academic enrichment activities, and articulation and improvement of attitudes toward the…

Discusses staff development for effective teachers and principals and describes a staff development program implemented in Jackson, Mississippi, which resulted in improved student achievement. (GC)

Describes an approach to school improvement designed by the New Jersey Education Association's Urban Education Committee. The program combines a school diagnosis based on effective schools research with teacher participation in the planning and implementation of new policies, programs, and procedures. (GC)

Uses research findings to show when educational leaders can use humor to increase their effectiveness and how they can use it more effectively. (FL)

Research on effective schools is limited by the same weaknesses that hamper research on effective organizations. Examining two competing frameworks for studying organizational effectiveness, this report proposes a general model of school effectiveness. The model was enacted and studied in one school and was found to be effective. Includes two…

School Centered Management (SCM) focuses on the school as the center of all management endeavors. Systematic delegation, support, and accountability are parts of SCM's situational approach to management. (MLF)

Ten guidelines formulated to assist policy decision makers in developing system-wide approaches to creating strong and effective language programs are discussed in this article. (DF)