States that teachers must evaluate not only cognitive and psychomotor skills but also attitudes and perceptions. Cites five factors contributing to improved testing: (1) criterion-reference evaluation, (2) school effectiveness research, (3) minimum competency testing, (4) new concepts of student evaluation, and (5) better teacher-made tests. (CH)

Examines research on effective schools and on principals as instructional leaders. Research shows that principals of effective schools are strong instructional leaders. Mention is made of weaknesses found in the research on principals as instructional leaders. (MD)

Discusses the teacher accountability movement in relation to the implementation of teacher-centered mastery approaches in effective schools. Focuses on schoolwide issues, instructional support personnel, institutional support mechanisms, mastery learning, and school district accountability plans that promote student learning of high-level…

A history of peace education is presented. To be effective, peace education must focus on a specific goal, avoid the temptation to become all things to all people, and retain a critical edge. It must not become so engrossed in classroom questions that it ignores the need for political action. (RM)

The belief that large segments of the population cannot learn what others learn, or do so much less rapidly, is predominant in our educational system. For schools to educate all children effectively, changes must occur in school ideology, structure, and instructional practices. (GC)

A promising approach to school improvement for disadvantaged students is based on effective schools research, focuses on quality and equity, considers previous research, and is data driven. It draws from specific premises as to the purpose and outcomes of schooling and calls for specific steps toward improving instruction and achievement. (GC)

One of the major barriers to effective schools is the tracking and ability grouping system, which socializes children to trajectories of failure or success throughout their school lives and adult careers. Since schools play a major role in forging adolescent identity, such a process systematically disadvantages students given negative labels and…

A curriculum emphasizing "basics" and a program of extracurricular activities encouraging individual experimentation, exploration, and growth are factors contributing to the excellence of this small, rural junior-senior high school with an enrollment of 256 in Triopia, Illinois. The school's faculty, curriculum, athletic program, and…

Provides an overview of how one rural state (Vermont) and respective educational partners (local schoolteachers, administrators, school board, and higher education faculty members) reviewed the effective school research, various models for school improvement alternative data collection instruments, and procedures for analyzing student test data.…

This paper constructs an administrator succession model specifying major school process and outcome variables. The succession literature is reviewed using the model's components which include the selection process, organizational structure, school culture, educational programs, successor actions, community, and succession effects. Strategies for…

According to researchers, the principal's leadership and the perceptions of the school staff are important in effective schools. A method for uncovering personal perceptions called ethnographic semantics is described. Findings from a study in which this methodology was used are presented. Includes three tables and two figures. (MD)

An overview of school provision in Saudi Arabia provides information on difficulties with teacher recruitment. A lack of qualified Saudi teachers and an over-reliance on teachers from outside the country have caused problems in the education system. The function and role of teacher training in the development of the national system of education is…

Solutions to problems in education usually focus on specific issues rather than developing a position on what education is about. A description of characteristics of the kind of education schools should provide for children is offered. The school environment, especially the classroom, is the source of educational improvement. (DF)

Previous college department rankings based on the evaluations of others in the field are examined for their weaknesses, and the requirements of an adequate institutional ranking system are discussed. (MSE)

Although the national reports have not focused on the problem, effective schools must address the needs of potential school dropouts. The author rebuts some of the common arguments against dropout prevention programs, arguing that successful dropout prevention is one of the key indicators of overall school effectiveness. (Author/TE)