This report presents a comprehensive plan, developed by the D.C. Committee on Public Education, to help strengthen the public schools in the District of Columbia. Chapter 1, "An Introduction: A Vision of the Future," contains the following sections: (1) "Description of the Committee"; (2) "Philosophy and Beliefs of the…

As society's fundamental characteristics change, schools and school leaders must be prepared to modify the educational enterprise to meet the new and unique needs of adults and youngsters in the 21st century. To anticipate and control change, the school business manager must be able to project future trends, issues, and challenges. In this volume,…

This two-volume annotated bibliography cites 786 articles published in 1983 on a variety of issues related to preschool education in several Eastern and Western countries, including France, Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Belgium, Canada, United States, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Ireland, East Germany,…

This study examined curriculum procedures and the roles, decision-making processes, and perceptions of central administrators, building administrators, and teachers in five school districts. Qualitative data collection included taped interviews using a focused indepth interview schedule, field notes, observation, and document collection. The study…

School desegregation has been promoted as a means for decreasing racial hostility and for raising minority achievement. A study was conducted to explore the effects of school organizational structure on the race/gender composition of interacting social networks of adolescents attending two middle schools. While the schools varied in the…

This manual is a guide for principals to use in planning and directing a system of leadership and instructional improvement. Its components are designed specifically to provide an established process for improving instruction at the building level. It achieves this objective by: (1) placing the principal in the role of instructional leader; (2)…

Patterns that emerged from reviewing 26 syllabi for courses on organization and administration in higher education are discussed, and six sample syllabi are presented. The syllabi focused more on organization than administration. Of the 26 syllabi, 19 dealt with organization and administration generally; 5 with administration in a specific…

The role of institutional self-evaluation is considered in the context of transition from central regulation to self-regulation in various higher education systems in Europe. A distinction is made between external steering, where regulations and decisions are made by a central state authority, to self-steering, where decisions and regulations are…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) recently provided school improvement assistance to the Chicago Public Schools. As part of its work, the NWREL reviewed 39 national reform reports in order to summarize the research findings on effective principals and teachers, curriculum, equity, partnerships and responsibilities, parent…

This is one of a series of reports which provide definitions of and descriptive data on the variables used in the Comparative Study of Phase IV of the Individually Guided Education (IEG) Evaluation Project. Phase IV investigated three curriculum programs specifically designed to be compatible with instructional programming for the individual…

This paper is one of a series to guide research linking educational policy and management with student achievement. It specifies the determinants of key paradigm variables and teacher and principal work. The paradigm developed for this type of research is presented in an earlier paper in the series. The constructs of the paradigm are defined,…

Papers are presented which were generated by this workshop on school improvement. Both session and panel presentations are included on school effectiveness research, curriculum alignment for school improvement, a school climate improvement project, the McRel school improvement program, Pennsylvania's long-range planning for school improvement, an…

Drawing upon research findings on school effectiveness, the McREL School Improvement Program was designed to examine critically such factors as school leadership, building organization, school climate and environment, and how citizens and parents are encouraged to participate in raising morale and effectiveness. Focus is upon instructional…

A new theme in the old tension between centralization and decentralization in the governance and administration of Australian higher education is explored. The argument is that the various major attempts to restructure Australian education systems both in centralizing and decentralizing forces have gained new strength, and that the recent stated…

School climate is a term used to describe how people feel about their school. The following 10 factors are described: (1) a supportive, stimulating environment; (2) student-centered; (3) positive expectations; (4) feedback; (5) rewards; (6) a sense of family; (7) closeness to parents and community; (8) communication; (9) achievement; and (10)…