Competitiveness is a function of a nation's resources and how effectively those resources are used relative to that nation's competitors. The people of a nation, with their knowledge, skills, and attitudes, determine how effectively technology, capital, and trade will be used to the nation's competitive advantage. The competitive challenge to the…

The school curriculum has been under scrutiny in an attempt to improve the educational experiences of children, often in the form of federal and state control to make schools accountable for students' education. The goal of standardization is to increase minimum standards in all classrooms and to make sure that all students receive a foundation of…

For schools, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) initially represented a policy problem requiring legal and public health experts to assess their ability to exclude students or staff infected with the human immuno-deficiency virus. As the crisis over the potential presence of people with AIDS in the schools abated and with the growing…

This report evaluates the effectiveness of the Urban Academy program, a dropout prevention demonstration program involving a collaborative effort between Community School District 10 in the Bronx (New York) and the Victim Services Agency (VSA), a social service agency, to provide increased instructional support and social services to 78 at-risk…

A study described Pittsburgh's education and training system for producing skilled and semiskilled workers and sought to identify challenges that the system will face as the area's economy strives for increased vitality. The study addressed multiple education and training functions, including preparing youth for productive careers, supporting the…

This is a report of a statewide study of kindergarten practices in North Carolina in 1988 which involved classroom observations (N=103 randomly selected classrooms) and questionnaires returned by 218 elementary school principals (an 86% response) and by 375 kindergarten teachers (an 81% response). Several questions were addressed by the study. (1)…

For a number of years, the 16 ERIC Clearinghouses have tracked educational issues and trends in their respective special areas of concern. This is the first unified collection of papers resulting from the tracking effort. Each paper contains an analysis of research, practice, and policy in the scope area covered by the authoring Clearinghouse. The…

This report discusses three recent developments in foreign and second language education. The first is the "proficiency movement," which is leading teachers and curriculum planners to find effective ways of measuring functional language proficiency and of bringing students to pragmatically useful levels of speaking, listening, reading,…

Instructional technology is defined as a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction. The main question…

Through the process of clinical supervision, systematic approaches permit effective change by the collaborative analysis of teaching. This guide's first section, "Beginnings," describes the process of clinical supervision. Emphasis is upon teachers working collaboratively to discover implicit teaching messages and to assimilate new…

Federal statistics reveal that 59.5 million Americans live outside urban areas, and the public school students who live in these rural areas constitute the largest minority public school population in this country; however, the lion's share of attention, research, and federal and state financial support goes to large schools in metropolitan areas.…

Perspectives on the reconstruction of science education in terms of current economic and social conditions and the foreseeable future are presented in this publication. An acceptable science curriculum is described as one that has cultural as well as scientific and technological validity. Elements that have been identified as essential for the…

This speech presents a teacher's account of the implementation of the Standards of Excellence Program in a Denver, Colorado, elementary school. Eight questions from the assessment instrument are cited that prompted the staff to reevaluate the educational program. Results of the assessment were analyzed by a committee, and objectives were set by…

Documented effects of relaxed school disciplinary standards show the need for implementation of strict, consistent disciplinary measures. Poor school discipline endangers students and staff, contributes to teacher burnout, hinders student education, costs taxpayers, and encourages criminality both in and out of school. Students rights advocates…

The problem of attracting and retaining qualified teachers is defined; and the complicating factors, current research, and policy options and implications are outlined in this issue brief. Complicating factors cited range from increased employment opportunities for women and minorities outside the teaching profession to difficulty in objectively…