A new body of educational research is now showing that there are many things teachers, principals, and schools can do to improve student performance. Effective teachers do five things: (1) focus teaching and curriculum selection on the basic skills; (2) provide most instruction to the class as a whole; (3) maintain a high student success rate; (4)…

Unstructured interviews conducted in 1977 with eight respected elementary and secondary school principals revealed their conceptions of the principal's role and of the skills and activities that had gone into their efforts to fill that role. The eight principals are identified in terms of their outstanding characteristics, as revealed through…

This study focused on the roles, responsibilities, reporting relationships, and background of senior information managers at universities with Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries, and on their relationships with library directors. Data for the study were collected from preliminary questionnaires distributed to 91 library…

A study conducted during the 1984-85 school year in Mississippi found that secondary school teachers' attitudes toward post-observation supervisory conferences were not influenced by their perceptions of their principals' supervisory behaviors. Participating in the study were 120 secondary teachers of English, science, mathematics, and social…

Despite the fact that teacher evaluation has long been a factor in the areas of promotion and salary increase, the proposed statewide implementation of a teacher assessment plan (the Mississippi Teacher Assessment Instrument) has aroused anxiety in Mississippi's educational environment. It is therefore critical that principals actively promote a…

To overcome teacher isolation and help make teaching a more attractive profession, educators might consider a peer support system based on the Stanford Collegial Evaluation Program. This paper describes the program's background, functioning, barriers to successful implementation, and how to neutralize them. The Stanford program uses a peer…

This paper reports on a research study designed, in part, to explore the expression of bureaucracy (or structural management) and culture (or symbolic management) in the work of eighteen elementary school principals in Louisiana. In addition, the study compares principals in nine of the schools categorized as "more effective" and nine…

A collaborative approach to educational research was used by an elementary school principal and a university researcher. The principal's daily activities were studied, as was the relationship of the roles she performed to instructional leadership. Data were collected mainly from participant observation and field notes. The principal performed six…

Intended to help special education administrators, the guide presents information on resources for microcomputer application in program management. The first section offers basic information on such topics as online databases, software, database management systems, and word processing programs. Section 2 provides information on computer…

The increasingly politicized environment of schools should be examined in the context of the board of education's legal powers and the politics of education. Historically, the superintendent of schools has dominated policy making, though school boards' influence has been noted in areas such as finance and physical facilities, and in smaller…

This paper proposes "data driven educational leadership" as a key to meeting the challenges that face public education. Section I discusses the role of the educational leader, particularly the superintendent, in assessing the state of the school district, developing district goals, and fostering an instructional focus among school…

Intended for administrators and policy makers as well as teachers, this digest explores the components common to effective writing programs. The digest first discusses activities at the classroom level as the foundation of a successful writing program and elements that should be included in classroom instruction, such as the process approach to…

This study was originally undertaken to describe an elementary school's bilingual education program and examine the process and effects of bilingual teacher development efforts, but it refocused on program change due to reduction in federal funding. A literature review explores materials relating to the process of change, staff development and…

The result of a 3-day conference on integrating women's studies into the college curriculum, this report provides background and information on how the new scholarship on women changes the assumptions, goals, and means of liberal education. It was written specifically for the Association of American Colleges. The SIROW conference was attended by…

Ways to improve campus management using new technology are discussed in the proceedings of the 1986 annual meeting of the Association of Physical Plant Administrators of Universities and Colleges. Paper titles and authors are as follows: "Things Are Going to Get Different" (Lou Volpe); "You Look Mah-velous! Perception Is Fact"…