Merit pay for teachers is often proposed as a compensation system that will enable public schools to motivate teachers to pursue organizational goals. Yet the promise of merit pay is dimmed by knowledge of its history: most attempts to implement merit pay for public school teachers over the last 75 years have failed. The first part of this paper…

This document presents a step-by-step strategy, in a question-and-answer format, for mounting a successful political campaign for school board. Part one, the introduction, provides advice on how to acquire the necessary background knowledge of a school district and suggests possible campaign themes such as "parents' rights" or "back to basics."…

Most Americans continue to place great faith in the social capacity of the public school system and to displace onto the schools responsibility to resolve some of our most urgent social issues. Israel was selected for observation in order to view American "educational messianism" from a distance. Cultural displacement as practiced in the…

Noting that education is viewed as the route to success in American society, the paper argues that education has not lived up to this promise. Emphasis on conformity and regimentation, fostering of competition and exclusion behaviors, classism, racism, and a microfocal perspecitive of social problems serve as barriers to full realization of the…

Implementation of the "Brown" decision has failed to provide the equal education opportunity promise in 1954. The Supreme Court's 1955 decision, which sent school desegregation cases to the district courts, was vague and provided desegregation opponents time to organize a campaign that threatened secession and succeeded in delaying any…

This book is designed to enable school administrators to actively participate in planning and implementing school safety and public relations activities. It provides a conceptual framework of the public relations process and shows its practical application to the problems of school crime and student misbehavior, through discussion of school public…

This collection of nine papers was presented at a workshop on evaluation for excellence in education. "Why Evaluate?" by Madeline I. Hardy, contends that although reform is needed, evaluation must continue in order to measure educational change, bring improvement, and provide public accountability. In "Evaluation for Excellence in…

The rural work ethic, a strong sense of community togetherness, and the absence of class distinction help rural schools avoid the politics that often stand in the way of education in larger urban and suburban schools. Factors contributing to successful schools include clear goals, good principals who know how to motivate faculty, faculty who know…

The National School Recognition Program was established in 1982 to identify and call attention to a group of public secondary schools that are unusually effective in educating their students with available resources. This document presents 146 effective practices adopted by schools in various areas, including: (1) clear educational goals; (2)…

To identify which needs of the Hart County schools were most important to community members, a study was undertaken using information from a community needs assessment meeting with 28 citizens in Munfordville (Kentucky) in December, 1987. The information used included the top-ranked 25% of individual need statements and all 71 need statements.…

Like the rest of British life around them, Great Britain's universities of adult and continuing education are currently in the midst of a period of great change. There has been much debate surrounding the relative importance of instruction, research, and community service in the overall mission of adult and continuing education in universities. It…

A model for involving local planning and support committees in the process of planning Wisconsin county extension education programs was developed as a way of improving the planning of extension programs statewide. The key components of the planning model developed were (1) the use of influential officials and community representatives and (2) the…

As a consequence of declining enrollment and decreasing public school revenues, coupled with cost increases linked to state and federal mandated programs, collective bargaining obligations, rising energy costs, and a larger proportion of high cost (disadvantaged) students, administrators are faced with a compelling need for cutbacks in…

This is the first in a series of six monographs developed to help school district and building staff use and report Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test results. Determining the meaning and use of previous and current test results is a necessary part of a complete reporting process. The two major ways to use MEAP results are student…

The School/Community Guidance Program in the Austin Independent School District is a state authorized program providing services to delinquent students to decrease both their disruptive behavior and their contact with the criminal justice system. Assigned to reduce factors contributing to truancy, academic failure, dropping out, and delinquency,…