Beginning in 1983, three educational reforms were undertaken in Pennsylvania to revise high school graduation requirements, test for remedial needs, and set higher standards for teachers and administrators. Revision of graduation requirements involved state and local education officials, professional organizations, and the state legislature. New…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This document is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides…

Urging new directions for American high school education, this book outlines problems with contemporary high schools and describes the experience of small high schools (those having approximately 200 students), designed in the past 15 years, that have developed excellent and diverse alternative programs within the constraints of existing district…

One of the seven correlates of an effective school, as identified by the Effective Schools Research, is a positive school climate: a positive attitude on the part of the entire staff and student body exhibited through overt behavior that creates a warm, orderly learning environment. Development of such an environment depends upon: (1) strong…

This study investigated the relationship between school staff job satisfaction or morale and a number of organizational changes and practices occurring at the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Junior High School. The issues under examination included homogeneous vs. heterogeneous grouping, class length, school-within-a-school or teaming, department…

This paper assesses the credibility of a single total instrument score and various logical sub-scores derived from a series of summative judgments about the quality of teaching performance. The objectives were to compare the generalizability of alternative Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument (TPAI) scores, to compare the dependability of…

The 1983-84 year of the Jobs Opportunities for Bilingual Students program (Project JOBS) was evaluated by the New York City Board of Education's Office of Educational Assessment. Conducted at South Shore High School in Brooklyn, Project JOBS provided instruction in English as a second language (ESL) and native language arts, in addition to…

The Lucy Flower Technical High School was the only Chicago public high school exclusively for girls. Its founders' goal was to train young women both for sex-segregated employment and for their "primary function" as housewives. The form this aim took in practice and the response to the school over time by Chicago's young women offer…

Since the mean score for a sample composed of several subgroups can be viewed as the sum of the mean of each subgroup weighted by the proportional size of the subgroup, then the mean change in a time period--in this case, from 1972 to 1980--is the sum of the differences between the means for each subgroup, with each mean weighted by its…

A project was conducted to create a model for articulation with emphasis on student needs in high-technology vocational programs at Spokane Area Vocational Skills Center (SAVSC) that are common to programs at Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC). Since there are students who will transfer from the SAVSC to SFCC in the programs of broadcasting,…

A study was conducted in Wyoming to determine the scope and economic value of supervised occupational experience programs (SOEPs) in vocational agriculture. The study tried to determine the level of participation and success realized by females engaged in SOEP activities, and to find out to what degree males and females engage in balanced SOEPs,…

Designed to update an original study conducted two years ago, this study questioned businesses across Wyoming about the job skills needed by persons graduating from high school and immediately entering the work force in office occupations. A questionnaire was sent to 210 businesses across the state, with a response rate of 62 percent (137…

This issue features a special report on a 1982-1983 study of 19 rural North Dakota high schools. The report is preceded by a brief commentary. The study provides in-depth descriptions of 7 schools and survey data from 12 others, and has sections on teachers, students, purposes and expectations, school climate and relationship with the community,…

A study examined the influence of such variables as aptitude, interest, personality traits, attitudes and aspirations, school achievement, and background on the post-high school training and career choices of secondary school students in South Africa. Data from various sources, including the Project Talent Survey begun in 1965 and continued with…

Developed to promote greater awareness and understanding of Canada by American students and teachers, this interdisciplinary curriculum guide includes not only social studies, but also activities dealing with mathematics, science, environmental studies, English, art, and music. The book is divided into five modules, each giving a different…