This high school reading program uses tape recorded examples of a student's reading to judge reading errors and has students work with peer tutors to correct those errors. (IRT)

With fewer church-going youngsters and more dysfunctional families, today's schools have become more involved in character education. A student's death from leukemia propelled the Boston Public Schools into a formal values-education effort. The district offers a comprehensive literature-based program that teaches values such as courage, honesty,…

Explains why principals' offices need computers and discusses the characteristics of inexpensive personal business computers, including their operating systems, disk drives, memory, and compactness. Reviews software available for word processing, accounting, database management, and communications, and compares the Kaypro II, Morrow, and Osborne I…

Schools need clear, consistent, and equitable disciplinary practices. A Louisiana parochial school developed an effective discipline policy by assembling faculty and staff into natural work teams, appointing team leaders, having each group list and classify troublesome disciplinary problems, studying the school mission statement, developing…

Best preschool programs provide both developmentally appropriate curricula and school-based family support services. This article describes four exemplary, innovative, and low-cost early education programs in Kentucky, Colorado, Iowa, and Florida that integrate family support, day care, and health and social services. These districts had visionary…

Offers suggestions for spending staff development money effectively. Ideas include the following: (1) keep your money close to the classroom; (2) use consultants to train your own trainers; (3) beware of embarking on numerous small-scale reforms; and (4) beware of pressure to copy other school improvement methods. (CJH)

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), Incorporated, has distributed over 57 million books in its 18 years. RIF programs have raised children's interest in reading and their levels of reading achievement, and have increased library use and parent involvement. The national RIF organization offers several forms of support for local programs. (PGD)

Motivated by peer pressure and the principle of least effort, middle schoolers often make poor choices--not to work, listen, or hand in assignments--that can lead to failure or underachievement. To avoid "social promotion," a Colorado middle school has initiated transition classes that give students a second chance to learn last…

Describes difficulties of Saint Paul's Saturn School of Tomorrow from planner, implementor, and evaluator viewpoints. The plan for a citywide, ungraded, downtown middle school called for an extended school year and the latest technology in a completely redesigned building with 4 teachers, 4 interns, and 162 students. Teachers were overworked, test…

To improve test scores and instructional quality, school districts in New Brunswick (New Jersey) and Adams County (Colorado) implemented programs to increase student time on task. Administrators introducing time on task programs should involve teachers and principals in planning, answer six staff questions, and provide support for necessary…

Describes Connections, a federally funded outreach program designed to help San Antonio children whose families have lost their homes and are crowded into dwellings with friends or relatives. Connections tries to identify these kids, bolster their school work, and provide stability through an afterschool club, where teachers tutor them and provide…

Describes application of a preschool education program in an Ortonville, Michigan, school district. The six programs are grouped in the same location, meet a variety of needs, and are part of a larger community cluster. Combining programs benefits both children and adults. (CJH)

Explains Project Simu-school, a computer program that can predict enrollment, needed buildings and programs, and anticipated costs. (JM)

Students can fall behind early in reading and never catch up. Hoboken (New Jersey) teachers are using Reading Recovery, an innovative New Zealand program, to provide low-achieving first graders with daily tutoring sessions for 18 to 22 weeks. Reading Recovery offers confidence-building strategies that combine skill-and-drill and whole-language…

Describes a Pennsylvania county school district's efforts to restore summer school despite budget restrictions and declining enrollments by combining forces with 14 other schools. Five local superintendents developed a plan for a countywide remedial program charging students $60 tuition for each 2-hour course taken. (MLH)