A review of the literature on school effectiveness identifies elements at the system level and the building level that contribute to effectiveness. The literature also provides diagnostic tools for evaluating one of the most important components of school effectiveness, school culture and climate. (SLD)

Most effective schools share a number of key characteristics, including clear-cut goals and objectives, adequate funding and financial management, quality academic programs, valid assessment programs, parent and family involvement, teacher and staff development, high expectations for students, community involvement, comprehensive support services,…

Discusses the reasons for, and the reactions to, the marginalization of drama/theater education in the Israeli school system. Curricular reform introduced in the mid-1980s resulted in some improvement, however, school principal autonomy remains a major stumbling block. Recommends drama teachers seize the initiative and implement programs on their…

An eight-year study of 49 schools purporting to practice and apply Quality Management (QM) techniques and processes uncovered some revealing differences between what respondents thought "should be" happening in these schools and what they reported was happening. The gaps uncovered could be recognized as differences between rhetoric and…

Since Mueller vs. Allen (1983), several legal decisions have attempted to clarify what is the appropriate relationship between religion and public education in a democratic society. During this time, the United States legal system has shifted, moving the historic "establishment clause" away from a strict "separationist" view…

In the Dutch Educational Assessment Program, the students' language proficiency is measured in grade 9, at age 15. Writing performance is measured through several performance-based writing tasks, rated on numerous aspects such as content, style, organization, punctuation, spelling and grammar. As a consequence, national performance levels are…

This report presents results from a self-study of program administration and State Department of Education evaluation visit conducted at New Mexico State University's two-year branch campus at Carlsbad in April 1995. College activities and outcomes are described for the following 10 areas: (1) marketing, describing the college's marketing plan…

Findings of a study that explored parents' views of education and their evaluations of their school's success are presented in this paper. The parents represented families involved in a Follow Through program, a federally sponsored education program that serves low-income children in kindergarten and the primary grades who had been enrolled in…

A description and analysis of the America 2000 educational strategy emphasizes the questions of what children and youths deserve and need in terms of education, and what the process of taking children and youth seriously involves in practice for teachers, administrators, parents, and others. After stressing that America 2000 is a national, rather…

Although analogous and vague definitions of school climate may help in determining whether low-achieving students are experiencing a more positive or negative school climate, more clarity is needed to render the climate construct more observable, measurable, and malleable. Tagiuri conceptualizes climate as the total environmental quality within an…

Separate but related developments in the new generation of school effectiveness research are discussed. The first part of the report presents a short historical overview that traces the change from a largely individualistic research approach to one that is more holistic. Whether schools make a difference is explored, and, if so, what makes them…

The purpose of this study was to use secondary analysis of an Australian database known as the Second International Science Study (SISS) to examine the role of student, school and home factors in explaining student differences in science achievement, especially on sex differences. Student characteristics investigated in the study included home…

Immigration to the United States from Mexico has a long history and has been increasing in recent years. Immigrant students, especially those who arrive as adolescents and those whose families are migrant agricultural workers, have special educational needs. Mexican immigrant students have varied educational backgrounds, but most need to learn…

In 1992, Alamogordo Branch Community College (ABCC), a branch campus of New Mexico State University, developed and implemented the Institutional Assessment and Strategic Planning (IASP) process, an integrated process designed to assess both student academic achievement and institutional effectiveness. Each year, the IASP process begins when…

This study used LOGO II, an instrument designed to assess students' learning and grade orientations, with a freshman class and again 4 to 5 years later when the same students (N=174) were seniors at the University of Montevallo (Alabama). To determine if there were differential effects for different majors, the data were disaggregated by major.…