A Tucson principal learned that denial and traditional administrative strategies cannot mitigate evolving gang activity. He recommends that school leaders use respect; provide relevant programs; establish a zero-tolerance policy for weapons, drugs, and violence; create parent patrols; keep video records; regulate attire; welcome police; support…

Policymakers have responded to increasing school violence with ameliorative policies and programs that don't necessarily reflect concerns of students, parents, and teachers. Using mini-case studies of three public school settings, this article identifies safe school characteristics from stakeholders' perspectives, discusses existing policies'…

A survey conducted in nine international schools in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Germany and two U.S. schools shows that cheating is widespread in middle-level schools. The most common means of cheating involve copying, plagiarism, and crib sheets. Many teachers either overlook possible transgressions or fail to spell out consequences. Schools…

This article argues that as a result of the changes in Australian higher education, which emphasize economic accountability, a more instrumental university has emerged. This policy shift is reflected in university promotional material and marketing strategies that indicate the extent to which this instrumental ethos pervades higher education and…

Examines religious freedom, schools, and the First Amendment issue, and discusses the "Three Rs Project," which is designed to help teachers, parents, and community leaders of different faiths set policies on religion in schools, protect students' religious speech, and reform secularized curricula. A consensus of the current law…

Examined variability in foreign-language courses taken by students in American high schools. The focus of the study depicted engagement in language courses being shaped by school offerings and school policies and practices that determine access for some or all students. (Author/JL)

This article profiles Unified Discipline, a schoolwide systemic model of discipline that incorporates factors associated with best practices in teaching behavior and improving discipline. The four components of the program are described and include unified attitudes, expectations, correction, and team roles. Implications for practice are…

Examines issues medical schools must consider before requiring students to own computers, including appropriate kind of computer, impediments to teaching with computers, and how they are to be used. Data from a study of 15 medical schools that require computers, surveyed information on software, hardware requirements, expectations of student use,…

Focuses on children's experiences on the Internet, including the extent of their exposure to sexual, racial, or other inappropriate material. Results of questionnaires in United Kingdom high schools addressed home access; filtering systems; student attitudes; the extent and type of supervision at home and at school; school Internet policies; and…

Today's reforms call for teachers to become involved in decision making outside the classroom. Teachers need the necessary skills to become active participants. This paper examines: areas where teachers can be involved in decision making; necessary knowledge and skills; ways to include this preparation within preservice teacher education; and the…

Studied the extent of use and usefulness of "Turn Your School Round," a behavior management package aimed at promoting discipline, learning respect, and responsibility for one's actions. Found that almost half of 83 schools responding used the program or one of its components; success was reported more among schools using entire program…

Examines information technology ethics, ethical codes, privacy, property, appropriate use, and what students need to understand about rights and responsibilities; outlines activities that teach ethical behaviors; and lists "The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics" developed by the Computer Ethics Institute, "Mankato (Minnesota)…

Local, state, and federal governments fail to protect homosexual, bisexual, and transgender students from human rights violations (harassment, violence, and deprivation of the right to education). State authorities must: end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; compel school officials to protect all students from…

Based on a survey among 1274 secondary school teachers in Flanders (Belgium), this paper describes the relationship between the assessment practices and forms of assessment policy (testing culture or assessment culture) and between forms of general school policy (student-oriented or achievement-oriented) and forms of assessment policy that…

As a field, special education presents an excellent case study of the paradox of differentiation and integration, wherein we seek solutions through increased specialization but, in so doing, we redefine a problem in terms of discrete parts at the expense of the whole. As Thomas Skrtic pointed out more than a decade ago, a large and ever-widening…