This handbook draws attention to the problem of dropouts in Massachusetts and offers solutions to increase the chances that all students will succeed. It suggests the need for systemic, school-based changes to foster learning environments that meet the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive needs of all students and staff. The handbook is…

The purpose of this study was to relate college-level or univeristy-level student performance to high school effectiveness, which was measured in terms of the college performance of a high school's graduates, after controlling for students' academic aptitude. Unusually effective schools were identified by examining the residuals of a multiple…

Guidelines for implementation of the team process as part of the middle school concept are presented. Topics discussed in the 13 chapters include effective middle school characteristics, student needs, curriculum design and development, team functions and effectiveness, scheduling, teaching strategies, student grouping, leadership, staff…

In April of 1986-87, the School Board approved a student assignment plan which returned most elementary students to their neighborhood schools, creating 16 predominantly minority schools with many students from low-income families. To assure the quality of education in these schools, a 5-year plan was developed. This report summarizes results in…

An examination of the impact of principals' administrative styles on school climate and culture to explain the discrepancy between observed and quantitative analyses in principal evaluations is the purpose of this study. A 3-year study of four secondary school principals utilized qualitative methodology (observation and interviews) and…

The impact of class size reduction at the early levels on student achievement in various states is discussed in this report. The Tennessee Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) study, a statewide longitudinal evaluation of the effects of class size on student achievement and development in primary grades K-3, analyzed demographic and basic…

For a number of years, the 16 ERIC Clearinghouses have tracked educational issues and trends in their respective special areas of concern. This is the first unified collection of papers resulting from the tracking effort. Each paper contains an analysis of research, practice, and policy in the scope area covered by the authoring Clearinghouse. The…

The choice of principals is too important to be left to chance. Dynamic, committed leaders not only help determine the quality of teachers that are recruited, but provide the key to effective schools where the battle for excellence will be won or lost. Section 1, "The Effective Principal," outlines the tasks that an effective principal performs.…

The School Effectiveness Structural Components Inventory (SESCI) was designed to assess structural elements in a school environment that contribute to effectiveness. The preliminary validation took place in 12 elementary schools in or near a large metropolitan school district. The schools were classified by overall school socioeconomic status, as…

This review of the effective schools literature focuses on six teaching factors: the nature of instructional materials, lower versus higher order skills, classroom reinforcement practices, teacher selection, teacher training, and individual versus whole-group instruction. Different from earlier studies, the review concentrates on specific…

Federal statistics reveal that 59.5 million Americans live outside urban areas, and the public school students who live in these rural areas constitute the largest minority public school population in this country; however, the lion's share of attention, research, and federal and state financial support goes to large schools in metropolitan areas.…

During the 1982-83 school year the Spencerport (New York) Central School District began a comprehensive project to study the effective schools research and its implications at all levels of a suburban school system. A leadership planning team (consisting of teachers, principals, and district personnel) participated in a series of workshops and…

This document is an annual status report summarizing findings of the first full year of operation of the Spencerport (New York) More Effective Schools/Teaching Project. Section 1 describes four documents (reprinted in Appendices A through D) that were developed during the project; reviews the assumptions, concepts, and research findings upon which…

Comprehensive or nonselective schools have been in existence in the United Kingdom for over 40 years, having gradually replaced the old selective system of grammar schools for able pupils and secondary modern schools for less able pupils. In spite of their growth in numbers, comprehensive schools have been subject to continual controversy, and…

This study adds to the effective schools debate a criticism of existing criteria--based on standardized achievement test profiles--for targeting schools for intervention programs. Qualitative and quantitative methods of gathering data result in conflicting assessments of the magnet elementary school studied as needing or not needing intervention.…