A multiple-method study of junior high school teachers' beliefs and classroom behavior focused on teachers' perceptions of teaching tasks and processes, on how their beliefs and behavior are shaped, and on constraints by outside influences. These influences, which make up the context of teaching, include organizational and community influences on…

Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the strategic planning concept are identified, and significant literature on the subject is reviewed that gives both conceptual and practical guidelines. Included is a series of very simple to more complex planning models that colleges and universities can adopt or modify, depending on their circumstances, to…

The findings of 22 significant and accessible studies of community involvement in school board policy formation, selected from over 130 relevant studies, are analyzed in this report to provide lay activists with information that could prove useful in efforts to influence policy-making. This information is organized in a question-and-answer format,…

Examines individual, family, and community factors identified in the literature as affecting achievement, attainment, and aspiration among African-American youth in junior and senior high school. In considering the complex interactions between achievement and attainment, it is necessary to review ways that achievement is measured and the…

This paper addresses the shortage of physicians providing medical services to rural communities in Queensland, Australia. Queensland is the fastest growing Australian state, but it has the lowest ratio of total doctors to population. Data indicate there may be twice as many patients per rural doctor compared with the city, which represents a…

This book explores the nature of indigenous education, outlining key elements of American Indian perspectives on learning and teaching. It advocates developing a contemporary, culturally based, educational process founded upon traditional tribal values, orientations, and principles, while simultaneously using the most appropriate concepts,…

This commentary on Enrique Gracia's (2003) article, "Social Isolation from Communities and Child Maltreatment: A Cross-Cultural Perspective," discusses the relationship of neighborhood context to child maltreatment. The difficulty of sorting out individual and contextual factors is emphasized, along with the problem of clearly defining the unit of…

This literature review summarizes and analyzes the current literature on variables predicting high school dropping out and the relationship between those variables and language minority youth (defined as those who are national origin minorities by birth and who speak, in varying degrees, languages other than English). After the introduction, which…

Beginning with a review of recent literature on social conflict, this study adopts Coser's distinction between realistic conflict, which seeks to balance both sides of a disagreement, and nonrealistic conflict, which seeks domination by only one party. Where nonrealistic conflict develops in intense labor-management disputes in public school…

Discusses the nature of recent calls for educational reform in the context of the historical role of superintendents in the development of the public school movement. Provides a case study illustrating how one metropolitan school superintendent facilitated educational innovation and solidified his own organizational power within his district. (34…

Mexican Americans differ from Anglo Americans in their types of health problems, relation to the American health care system, and responses to health care. Mexican Americans tend to underutilize available health resources because of fear of discrimination, perception of health workers as government representatives, and language and cultural…

Examines the "Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning's" section on context effect. Reviews influences that shape social studies, including research, student groups, family environment, mass media (especially television), testing, curriculum mandates, and local-to-national community pressures. (CH)

Describes a study of how Chinese-American family and community behaviors, routines, values, and expectations affect the educational achievement of Chinese-American children. Finds that some traits, valuing effort over innate ability and parental involvement, do support academic achievement in association with certain social and economic…

The economic and political forces behind recent calls for excellence in education are pointing to necessarily dramatic changes in the nature of the teaching profession. Members of the business community, state political leaders, and teachers are working together--with substantial private and state monies--to implement a radical reform agenda that…

In spite of the most adverse circumstances, some children manage to survive and even thrive, academically and socially, into adulthood. A complex array of individual, family, and community factors has been identified that best explains resilience and lays the foundation for programs and interventions targeted at fostering the development and…