This report, a small segment of Project TALENT, concerns the growth in abilities and achievement of high school students, their schools, and the test battery administered. The population was 7,500 students in grade 12 from 100 public high schools. The findings are derived from analyses of the relationships between the standing of students in grade…

This report, divided into four parts, includes the documents from the Summer Institute that have undergone revision and the additional papers that were written on the history of school reform and on school administration. Each paper sets forth an analysis of its subject in terms of the literature and the reflections of the author. The purpose of…

This study was designed to 1) reasonably relate educational resources and the way they are used for specific students to the educational outcomes for those students, and 2) to demonstrate the feasibility and problems of obtaining information about resource-effectiveness relationships. Data for the study were gathered at Everett Junior High and…

Pilot study testing of the Organizational Health Inventory (OHI), developed to measure the health of schools along seven dimensions of interactions among teachers, students, and administrators, showed positive results supporting the stability of the factor structure, and reliability and validity of the subtests. (Author/CB)

Describes the National Education Association's Mastery in Learning Project. The project was designed and piloted in six elementary and secondary schools in different regions of the United States in 1985-86. Plans have been made for a three-year demonstration project in 24 schools in 1986-87. Includes references. (MD)

Communication forges links among the various members of an organization and can enhance organizational performance. Research shows people to be positively or adversely influenced by the kind of communication they receive, interpret, and accept. School administrators should consider the potential for improved communication in a supportive…

Discusses education's purpose as bringing about change and the attraction of using education to effect social change in countries like Australia and newly independent Zimbabwe. Examines both the efficacy and the legitimacy of education's role and contribution to social change as related to particular political positions and thinking styles. (MLH)

Uses data from ethnographic study in two Quechua-speaking communities of Puno, Peru, to explore schooltime spent in other-than-academic endeavors. Documents uses to which schooltime is put in these communities, and then seeks to account for observed uses of time in terms of ethnographically derived insights as to social, cultural, economic, and…

Investigates the role of district supervisors (assistant superintendents) in a British Columbia school district's implementation of a peer coaching network for principals and teachers. Two school improvement approaches are also compared. With one exception, results indicate a need for greater district support of principals as school leaders. (CJH)

Outlines the development of thinking concerning equal educational opportunities as related to school finance. Discusses effective schools research and its implications for educational equity, school operation, and professional preparation and practice. The roles of individual schools and competent leadership should prevail over preoccupation with…

Describes the improved learning environment at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in South Carolina and gives credit to Principal Melvin Smoak. Discusses such topics as discipline policy, teacher evaluation, and remedial programs. States that, although more students are acquiring basic skills, the school has no resources to challenge the brightest…

Reports tracer studies of Kenyan youths leaving technical school to determine their success at obtaining gainful employment. Almost 43% were neither in formal schooling nor training, nor employed a year after leaving, although technical skills were seen as useful, particularly in private life. (DP)

A theory postulating nine dimensions of effectiveness in U.S. higher education institutions was tested in an Australian sample. Findings suggest that administrators should use caution when extrapolating from results in at least the Australian context. Areas for future research are also suggested by cross-cultural comparisons. (Author/MSE)

This article describes and analyzes three images of leadership which are prominent in the literature on effective schools. The ways in which these flawed images have contributed to the impending failure of that movement are discussed. Problems created by these leadership images are examined and solutions are discussed. (JL)

Effective principals agree on what should be occurring in the classrooms in their schools, according to investigators who queried principals in 202 schools identified as "effective." The most important characteristic of teachers, they responded, is to be task-oriented. (CJH)