Drawing from general experience and specific examples from the New Beginnings program in San Diego (California), outlines roles and responsibilities for school superintendents, board members, principals, and teachers involved in implementing school-linked services. Calls for increased accountability to measure progress toward defined goals. (SLD)

Explores the role of the urban school superintendent with regard to each of the six National Education Goals of 1990. Superintendents must mobilize their forces to fulfill the reforms outlined in the goals and must focus on specific needs of urban children. (SLD)

Stress accompanies most superintendencies, but how much strain a superintendent experiences hinges on personality traits and coping ability. Superintendents are pressured by innercity work environments, changing demographics, tightening finances, confrontational school boards, and dissatisfied constituents. For some, the answer is early…

Braxton County, West Virginia, is a subculture in which the norms and values of local residents are oppositional to state and national objectives for public education. Describes the role of the locally born county superintendent as a cultural change agent, and his strategies for overcoming poor community support and limited financial resources to…

From a random sample of members of the 2000-2001 membership directory of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), public school administrators' acceptability ratings of three school-based programs for the prevention of adolescent suicide were examined. A total of 210 (46%) respondents examined a description of a suicide prevention…

Most of us started our superintendency committed to keeping our eye on the higher purposes of education, vowing not to get bogged down in the managerial details. John Wiens shares his quest for an intellectual understanding of the role, a meaningful theory of leadership, and the creation of an environment that helped others pursue similar quests.…

In U.S. public schools, a limited number of women have attained the position of superintendent. Consequently, there has been limited research focusing on understanding the position from a woman's perspective. The purpose of this study was to add to the body of literature focusing on women's ideas and beliefs about leading schools. A survey that…

This appendix accompanies "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Initial Research Report." This appendix focuses on the findings and domain comparisons of the study. This appendix contains the following: (1) Decision Rules; (2) Full Set of…

This issue features the opinions of some highly respected, but often controversial, educators who stand outside the mainstream of education reform. They often advocate more structured and top-down approaches to the problems of urban students as they consider the standards that must be created to promote achievement for all students. "No Magic…

This book provides an overview of the history of the Phoenix Indian School from 1891 through 1935. The Phoenix Indian Industrial Boarding School was founded for the specific purpose of preparing Native American children for assimilation. During its first 40 years, the school's main objectives were to remove Indian youngsters from their traditional…

A discussion session for urban school superintendents from Pennsylvania and New Jersey identified four educational issues, currently the focus of a good deal of political debate and activity, that illustrate the shift from local to Federal, and then from Federal to state-level influence and initiative. These are (1) centralization of control; (2)…

The selections in this book originated at the annual National Educator Awards Retreat held by the Milken Family Foundation in March 1991. To set the stage for the discussions, W. Bennett and A. Levine offered opening remarks concerning characteristics of ideal high school graduates. Educators, including state superintendents, responded. After a…

This study reports on the formulation of educational technology policy in three Illinois K-12 school districts (n=36). Major findings included: (1) educational policy formulation in the districts focused on collecting the objects of technology, such as computers, modems, networks, rather than viewing educational technology as a systematic process…

In July 1991, 20 superintendents, who are members of the Urban Superintendents' Network, a coalition of educational leaders sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), participated in a special panel presentation and roundtable discussion entitled "Turnover in the Urban Superintendency:…

Facts about Massachusetts public schools are presented for quick reference in 20 tables. Part 1, "A Few Miscellaneous Numbers", contains brief tables of: (1) total budget; (2) per-pupil cost; (3) number of schools; (4) number of public school districts; (5) number of operating districts; (6) number of superintendents; (7) number of…