Reviews the history of school libraries and librarians and changes that have occurred; discusses present conditions, including the need for collaboration, leadership, and greater visibility; and considers future possibilities, including strategies for successful change. (LRW)

Cost control in higher education is hampered by the failure of governing boards to focus on the value and quality of academic programs, and barriers to board priority-setting are significant. However, boards must understand the need for reform, identify responsible administrative leadership, reaffirm institutional mission, define what constitutes…

Presents the main ingredients for successful computer-systems administration. Discusses training and ongoing support, change management for system upgrades, developing a problem-reporting form and keeping the documentation history, managing technical support, and having a disaster-recovery plan. (AEF)

Describes extent and impact of harassment; responses of victims, school personnel, and perpetrators to harassment; and legal redress available to victims. Includes specific steps social workers and other school personnel should take to prevent or alleviate such problems. (LBT)

Typically, subject department heads perform a middle-management role in secondary schools that is unquestioned. A Canadian study examined effects on school culture and educational practice when structure and roles are open to revision. The restructuring initiative is fostering cultural change in all eight district schools. (34 references) (MLH)

References the work of Stone and Archer (1990), in which challenges that counseling centers would face in the 1990s were identified. Assesses the extent to which 67 counseling center directors heeded the recommendations of Stone and Archer over a five-year period. Positive increases in adherence were obtained for 53.5% of the recommendations with…

Staff at the Cucamonga (California) School District discovered no magic key to improving mediocre student performance in their schools. Academic gains became evident only after implementing several steady-improvement strategies in teaching, instructional technologies, learning focus, libraries, remedial reading, and summer school. (MLH)

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, influential in middle-grades policy, advocates a three tiered approach envisioning high-performing schools as academically rigorous, developmentally responsive, and socially equitable. This report discusses pioneering programs, critics' concerns, exemplary Michigan programs, and urban schools'…

Discusses how managers can handle change and cope with stress, describes a number of books that address these issues, and relates them to library administration. Highlights include organizational change; stress reduction; human behavior and the tools of change; communication skills; leadership strategies; and the use of humor. (LRW)

Examines the significance of forging partnerships between academic affairs and student affairs, partnerships that advance student learning, foster educational attainment, and reinvigorate undergraduate education. Details the nature of the partnerships, the benefits, and obstacles to their foundation. Concludes with a discussion of implications for…

Describes changes at Wesleyan University (Connecticut) since 1997 to foster curricular coherence in the liberal arts without imposing a curricular core. Changes include an on-line registration system, a curriculum plan for the first two years which helps students create sequences of interdisciplinary study in addition to the major, Web-based…

Provides a participant's commentary on a seminar discussing authentic progress in innovative educational practices such as those of Maria Montessori and Frank Lloyd Wright. Notes that there was agreement among participants regarding basic parameters around which innovation within limits was possible. Concludes that innovation is possible when…

Discusses how irrational beliefs can be disputed and replaced with alternative, healthier mind-sets. Focuses on cognitive restructuring theory, changing unhealthy thoughts, disputation, semantics, and adopting alternative mind-sets, such as life is bizarre and funny. Claims that using words that indicate preferences and possibilities can help…

Reconsiders hierarchy models positing a learning model of behavior change wherein knowledge precedes attitudes, thus influencing behavior. Considers case of contraception in Peru; develops six possible knowledge, attitude, and practice permutations. Finds assessing the fit of such models consistent with emerging work in development communication…

Considers the importance of teachers changing their practice from the traditional norm. Offers insights into how this change can be achieved. Discusses conditions necessary for supporting improvisation and change. (PA)