This article offers the opinion that school mental health services should be built around the question: "What useful roles can schools play as part of a concerted social effort targeted to the enhancement of children's wellness?" The article suggests that there are many important roles: practical, repair-oriented roles, and new roles…

Recommendations are presented for a new form of school governance in British Columbia that takes into account current research on effective schools. In the model described, the provincial government provides the funding, sets the core curriculum, standards, and outcomes, ensures standardized measurement and reporting, and supports field research.…

Catharine Macaulay's "Letters on Education" (1790) examined education's effect on the character, morals, and knowledge needed for citizens of both genders. Macaulay's work is described within a sociopolitical context, examining her views on human nature, educated individuals, and moral education and discussing implementation of her…

Reports on a study of the effects of personal characteristics, family involvement, and ability grouping on school participation and commitment. Finds that decreasing levels of school commitment are associated with increasing rates of school crime, misconduct, and nonattendance. (CFR)

New Mexico ranks high in youth violence, substance abuse, poverty, teen pregnancies, and school dropout rates. In response, Western New Mexico University developed a special master's program in bilingual special education, attended primarily by minority-group school personnel, and implemented a program to address the cycle of poverty by training…

Obesity is epidemic in the nation's school-age population with African American and Hispanic children and adolescents specifically at risk. School nurses at elementary and middle public schools in the Missouri 8th Congressional District were surveyed regarding their perceptions of childhood obesity. School nurses supported preventive interventions…

This paper discusses recent demographic and economic trends in Illinois and nationwide and resulting implications for rural schools and communities. Economic and social trends and their impacts on rural schools over the next decade include: (1) a more diverse school population due to growing numbers of Asian and Hispanic immigrants; (2) a greater…

The present situation in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) regarding primary school drop-out and repetition, with special reference to the situation of the girl child, is examined in this study. The in-school as well as out-of-school causes of primary school drop-out are examined, and solutions that help reduce or eliminate the…

This report charts a brief history of the comprehensive high school in the United States designed particularly to highlight those key decisions that make them what they are. The first and longest part of the paper is organized chronologically into sections with the following headings: 1600-1890--Getting Started; 1890-1920--Basic Reform/Social…

This report addresses issues related to the responsibility of public schools to prepare rural youth for life choices about careers, postsecondary education, and place of residence. A synthesis of current research literature, as well as the perceptions of rural educators and policymakers in the Northwest, explore some potential resolutions to the…

In the school-college partnership movement state policy can play an important role in sustaining partnerships as part of an active general strategy for educational change. Individual institutions and communities cannot solve the social problems facing the nation without working in cooperation with a broad network of other agencies and communities.…

This guide for parents of gifted children in South Dakota provides information and help in the following areas: (1) identifying personal feelings about giftedness (a self-assessment instrument); (2) deciding who is gifted (including federal and South Dakota definitions); (3) characteristics of giftedness (myths versus facts); (4) the school's role…

The State Higher Education Executive Officers' Task Force on Achieving National Education Goals found four issues of immediate concern to higher education one of which was the role of higher education in accelerating school reform. This document presents a set of recommendations on that issue. Schools and universities must establish high learning…

There is a need to incorporate a global perspective into humanities courses and curricula at the college level, to help students understand the international issues which confront all American citizens. This goal can be achieved by a combination of individual and institutional commitments. The key element is the faculty member's role. Humanities…

This revised curriculum guide, one of nine sequential manuals for elementary and secondary teachers and administrators, is designed to prevent drug misuse and abuse through activities for developing students' affective and cognitive skills. The introductory section presents the rationale for the school-community drug abuse prevention program…