Walk into any school in America and you will see adults who care deeply about their students and are doing the best they can every day to help students learn. But you will also see a high degree of variability among classrooms--much higher than in most other industrialized countries. Today we are asking schools to do something they have never done…

The Department of Education's Secondary School Recognition Program (SSRP) was developed to identify and recognize unusually effective public secondary schools and, through publicity and other means, encourage the emulation of their successful programs, policies, and practices by practitioners in other schools. This directory describes a small…

Drawing from the experiences of Delgado Community College (DCC) in Louisiana, this manual offers guidance on choosing and implementing an institutional planning system. Section 1 offers introductory comments on planning, educators' reluctance to embrace the management systems of the private sector, and the growing recognition of the importance of…

Which factors promote student transfer from California Community Colleges (CCC) to baccalaureate-granting institutions? How do community college practices support this transition? Which student behaviors and characteristics particularly facilitate their movement to four-year colleges and universities? The Research and Planning Group for California…

Three schools with differing ways of promoting excellence are described. Background, distinctive features, curriculum features, teacher behaviors in class, and teacher activities out of class are each discussed. (MNS)

An overview is provided of the Quality First Process Model developed by Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC), Wisconsin, to provide guidelines for quality instruction and service consistent with the highest educational standards. The 16-step model involves activities that should be adaptable to any organization. The steps of the quality model are…

This guide presents the Department of Education's strategy for ending social promotion in public schools. It opens with a description of social promotion and the pervasiveness and the consequences of this practice. The volume outlines the high standards that all students should be held to and emphasizes the importance of creating reliable measures…

This loose-leaf compendium, the first in a projected series of five, includes three types of brief research summaries: "topical synthesis,""close-ups," and "snapshots." The single topical synthesis, by Greg Druian and Jocelyn A. Butler is entitled "Effective Schooling Practices and At-Risk Youth: What the…

During 1986-87, the Tennessee Technological University Rural Education Research and Service Consortium continued to facilitate research and service activities of the College of Education faculty in selected rural schools, provide assistance to faculty desiring to engage in such research/service, and provide documentation of school improvement…

Points out eight factors consistently associated with effective schools (academic focus, student participation in decision-making, etc.) and eight common problems with effective schools projects (short-term focus, unrealistic expectations, etc.). Summarizes successful projects at a K-12 village school and an urban junior high school. (JHZ)

A program description and supporting materials of the San Diego County (California) Effective Schools Program are presented. The program involves a three-phase, research-based process for improving effectiveness at the school site. The phases are: assessment, planning, and implementation. Following an overview of the program, the steps involved in…

Higher standards in public schools have made it necessary for educational reformers to identify at-risk students and to develop effective programs for preventing their failure. This pamphlet begins by delineating the characteristics of at-risk students and discussing evaluation instruments that are useful for identifying such students. Successful…

Research on teacher and school effectiveness indicates that higher expectations for student achievement are part of a pattern of differential attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors characterizing teachers and schools that are effective in maximizing their students' learning gains. This resource document reviews research that indicates how differential…

Schools working in cooperation with business can reduce the number of youth at risk of long-term unemployment if teachers and school administrators are willing to learn from research developed outside the field of public education and if schools are substantially restructured to meet student needs. A review of the literature of labor economics and…

Drawing from research conducted by the Academy for Educational Development and the College Board, this booklet presents nine recommendations to enhance the transfer function of community colleges, especially for minority students; provides a rationale for the recommendations; and describes two major programs to promote the transfer function.…