Although secondary school principals may believe that instructional leadership should be their most important role, many complain about their inability to succeed in this endeavor. They typically cite as reasons the numerous other tasks needing their everyday attention. After briefly summarizing recent research substantiating instructional…

Effective public and private schools selected for recognition by the Secondary School Recognition Program and the Elementary School Recognition Program for 1982-1983 through 1989-1990 are listed in this brochure. Criteria for selection are concerned with organization, leadership, curriculum, instruction, student achievement, character development,…

This annotated bibliography includes over 300 references and descriptive abstracts from the National Development Centre Resources Database. Topics include policy and policy analysis, government initiatives and responses, school improvement and effectiveness, educational change, change management, and training materials. Subject and author indexes…

This report presents and analyzes the findings of a study conducted using the modified two-phase Delphi approach of the members of the Network for Effective Schools, an organization of State and local educational administrators and teachers. The survey identified 11 of the most vitally needed reforms in American education including: (1) Schools…

This textbook, intended for graduate students in introductory educational supervision courses, draws on the research on effective schools, teacher and adult development, and supervisory practice, as well as on direct practical experience, to provide information that supervisors can use to help their schools be more successful. The term…

A listing of effective schooling practices selected for use in the Alaska Effective Schooling Program is presented in this booklet, arranged in the five major categories identified in the research literature: leadership, school environment, curriculum, classroom instruction and management, and assessment and evaluation. The listing is accompanied…

Using as a sample the 154 secondary schools selected as the best in America in 1982 by the Department of Education's Secondary School Recognition Program, researchers examined the characteristics that made teachers, administrators, and school climates effective in the pursuit of educational excellence. The first chapter of this book interpreting…

A model of strategic adaptation that focuses on how organizations adapt to both conditions of growth and decline is presented. The theoretical structure underlying the model is considered, with attention to organizations, niches, and environments, as well as environmental change and evolving niches. The model attempts to reconcile the perspectives…

An alternative method of identifying effective schools, based on the concept of effective schools as statistically atypical, was tested. This paper investigates the issue of consistency of the identification of what is termed "exceptional" schools. The following tests were administered to all first through fourth graders in 431 schools…

A second wave of educational reform is closely scrutinizing fundamental issues (structure, organization, management, curriculum, and instruction) and calling for at least partial restructuring of the public school system. After presenting a scenario of an ideally restructured elementary school, this paper explores the…

This workshop proceedings presents summaries of the presentations of four speakers and recommends criteria and measures for determining institutional effectiveness. After introductory comments on the sponsorship and format of the workshop, the paper highlights the major points made by Carol Boyer, who reviewed recent research and other efforts…

Results of a comprehensive study of the school climate component in the School District of Philadelphia's school improvement project--the Replicating Success Project (RSP)--are reported. The RSP study, which was implemented in a large urban public school system, uses multiple indicators and a chart essay in reporting findings in order to present…

Because leadership theories and recent research into principals' roles have only limited validity, practical utility, and comprehensiveness, this study undertakes a description of effective principals' behaviors and a coherent explanation of them. Long-term goals, factors affecting student learning, strategies for goal achievement, and structures…

The cluster of studies that has come to be called the "effective schools research" is providing a reliable database on the basic differences between effective and noneffective schools. Researchers have identified three fundamental factors common to effective schools: (1) a belief in, and commitment to, student learning; (2) a sense of…

Structure as an aspect of educational setting is discussed and illustrated in the course of an argument indicating that efforts to change schools, including Project Follow Through, should aim to change structures rather than people. It is asserted that educational reform in America usually attempts to change people, especially children, and that…