This report contains the complete statewide results of the California Assessment Program, including some features that have become standard and some that are new this year: detailed findings for reading, written language, mathematics, and specific skill areas within each major area; national comparisons; expert opinions of the results; comparable…

In this monograph the author offers the reader a new perspective on an important, dynamic, and sometimes daunting issue: managing successful school-based leadership. Organized around the seven elements of art criticism, the author uses an arts-based approach to weave together notions of research-based leadership skills for successful school-based…

Recent policy studies by the Education Trust and Heritage Foundation have tried to identify "high-flying" schools--schools that help students reach very high levels of achievement, despite significant disadvantages. This policy brief demonstrates three major problems with the findings of these reports. (1) Due to questionable…

The history of San Felipe School District (Texas), 1894-1971, depicts a situation in which Mexican Americans had control of local schools. Established in the Mexican "barrio" of the racially divided border town of Del Rio, San Felipe resisted annexation to the Anglo school district and became an independent school district in 1929.…

This report highlights the research on how schools across the country have successfully transformed themselves into high-performing schools. It provides suggestions for how school leaders can use this knowledge base as they examine their schools' instructional and administrative practices. Chapter titles reflect the contents: (1)…

This report summarizes the discussion and conclusions of an educational roundtable examining the collected research on K-12 single-sex education produced over more than two decades. The one day roundtable generated many points of disagreement and several profound unanswered questions. Nonetheless, there was consensus on a series of statements.…

This short paper discusses the advantages of and outlines key design issues for creating charter districts. The design issues are divided into three categories representing the three central elements of the environment the districts are trying to create for their schools: the opportunity to perform, incentives to perform, and capacity to perform.…

This publication summarizes research on the benefits of safe-school planning, provides examples of successful programs and strategies, and offers a step-by-step planning process that school teams can apply to their individual campuses and student populations. It also reflects new state and federal laws that established California's School Safety…

In spring 2000, the Southern Regional Education Board, through its Middle Grades Assessment, gathered information from 5,000 eighth-graders and 1,800 middle-grades teachers in 60 schools in 14 states. This brief report describes what that information revealed: a significant difference between the achievement scores of the highest performing 25…

This collection of articles focuses on connections between education policy and teaching and learning practice. The articles place special emphasis on teaching in urban settings and on improving teacher-student interactions in the classroom. The articles--organized around three major themes: (1) race, culture, power, and language; (2) teacher…

This book explores the issues involved in developing standards in higher education, examining the practical issues involved in benchmarking and offering a critical analysis of the problems associated with this developmental tool. The book focuses primarily on experience in the United Kingdom (UK), but looks also at international activity in this…

The New York City Department of Education, like other urban public school systems, is facing the task of reforming many large high schools that have had graduation rates under fifty percent for many years. With new federal sanctions for failing schools under the No Child Left Behind Act, many schools nation-wide that have been prominent…

Suggests that much of the research on middle level education is weak, sparse, and inconclusive. Presents critiques of research and an overview of the research findings of several highly-rated middle level programs. Identifies four factors contributing to the problem, specifically: an insufficient number of studies, utilization of weak research…

Describes a method for assessing schools' performance in relation to socioeconomic indicators of their location. Such indicators include, the percentage of owner-occupied houses, car ownership, unemployment, and overcrowding. Discusses the process of indexing these indicators and their relation to school performance. (MJP)

This case study explored culturally relevant practices in an urban American Indian secondary alternative school and three students' responses to them. The most vital factor contributing to student success was culturally responsive teachers. Other factors were small school size, flexible school formats, and governance structures. Implications for…