This policy bulletin summarizes the comments of participants in a forum on the subject of turning around low-performing schools. The forum was hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and the Consortium of Policy Research in Education and included policymakers, teachers, and state and local officials working on issues related to low-performing…

This study of faculty pay scales at Utah Valley State College (UVSC) surveyed a total of 198 faculty on several issues: whether the current pay scale system provided enough flexibility to recruit and train faculty; whether it facilitated or inhibited consistency in faculty remuneration; whether it facilitated or inhibited a merit pay system,…

Data collected from State departments of education in the various States concerning public elementary and high schools for the year 1927-28 show increases in many of the principal items over those collected from the same source for 1925-26. A few show decreases. The information collected shows a tendency for elementary-school enrollments,…

In discussing agencies for the improvement of teachers in service, one's mind naturally turns first to those periodical meetings of teachers, such as institutes, that are established by law. The data pertaining to meetings of this nature that have been collected are summarized in this paper. These were gathered primarily from State and Territorial…

Examines the emergence and early implementation stages of Queensland (Australia) Education Department's policy for devolving responsibility to state schools. Clarifies the department's rhetoric in developing and promoting its decentralization policy; examines policy efficacy at the "school face" level; explores possible policy outcomes,…

Traces the three-year period (beginning in 1988) leading to the takeover of the Jersey City (New Jersey) public schools by the State Department of Education. Questions the wisdom of New Jersey's approach regarding failing school districts. The confrontation in New Jersey ended poorly for both the state and district. (SLD)

This study explores whether the association between substance use and involvement in youth violence is a unique association resulting from the properties of the drugs, or whether it is part of a larger behavioral cluster. The sample was composed of 1,571 10th grade students from the Israeli secular and religious state school systems, including…

This report summarizes a study examining the current conditions and unique nature of rural schools in Kansas. The purpose of the study was to identify problems that could be addressed through educational policy and state legislation. A literature review reports on the distinctive nature of rural life, factors leading up to school consolidation,…

During the past 4 years, the education reform movement in the United States has made significant progress. At the federal level, the Bush Administration proposed "America 2000," its specific recommendations for systemic reform; and the Clinton Administration introduced "Goals 2000: Educate America Act." This report concentrates…

This report marks the third consecutive year that the New York State Education Department has produced a single report displaying five years of data concerning: (1) revenues; (2) expenditures; (3) district characteristics; (4) staffing patterns; and (5) student outcomes. At present, public school enrollment is increasing, but state aid is…

The concept of fiscal neutrality seeks to guarantee that a penny of tax effort in any district in the state, no matter how poor, will yield the same number of dollars per student for education as in any other district. Every district, in effect, would draw on the wealth of the state as a whole, but each district can decide for itself how much to…

This source book brings together research about improving the ways that learning, teaching, and schooling are organized, and how school and school district size may affect such efforts. Six scholars were commissioned to address the questions of how to define quality in education; how school and district size are related to educational costs and…

This booklet tells the story of citizen organization and role in the school reform movement in the restructuring of the Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools. Chapter 1, "People Were 'Mad As Hell,'" relates the events immediately surrounding the Chicago Teachers Union strike that transformed discontent into community action. Chapter 2,…

A group of 442 New York district jurisdictions (which are overwhelmingly rural but have some "metropolitan" county locations) with 2,500 or fewer pupils are subdivided by size (1,100 or fewer pupils, 210 rural or metropolitan sites; 1,100-2,500 pupils, 212 rural or metropolitan sites; and 20 small city or metropolitan sites of 2,500 or…

This report describes the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's activities and initiatives during the past 2 years and some of the major directions for the 1983-85 biennium. The department's five administrative divisions and selected corresponding subdivisions are presented as follows: (1) School Financial Resources and Management…