An expanded definition of the English curriculum includes a discriminating study of the dominant media in our culture: film, television, and even computers. (Author/JM)

Four systems for computer-assisted instruction are explained and compared here: the PLATO, the TICCIT, the TRS 80, and the Apple II. (JM)

Describes an attendance policy that, although initially successful in cutting absences, was widely disliked. Details the modifications that, without impeding effectiveness, made the program more respected. (JM)

Describes development of a Multiple Intelligences Theory Application (MITA) model used in high school classrooms to address major content, collaboration, and criteria concerns. The model invites parents to collaborate, from curriculum planning stages to the end stages of learning. The model also provides for student participation and alternative…

Faced with declining test scores, meager resources, and an untenable student/faculty ratio, a predominantly minority urban high school decided to bring in more student teachers. The school welcomed and integrated student teachers into the faculty, taught them about urban education, provided opportunities for mutual support, and solicited their…

This article describes the Valley Education Consortium, a long-term, ongoing school-university partnership to achieve concurrent improvements in secondary school curriculum and assessment. The partnership consists of 10 school districts in western Oregon, three county education service districts, the Oregon State University-Western Oregon State…

High school administrators, counselors, and teachers can support, assist, and nurture incoming ninth graders. Principals should share middle-level and high school buildings, teachers, and preparation time; organize ninth-grade students and teachers into interdisciplinary teams; conduct regularly scheduled advisory programs; assign upperclass…

Discusses a specific type of mentoring: matching retired, older persons with young people enduring a crisis period in their lives. Programs such as the Teaching Learning Communities (T-LC) Mentoring Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, assign elders as mentors and tutors to junior high school students in danger of dropping out. Strong elder-youth bonds…

Delineates eight recommended steps toward effective teacher remediation, including developing clear performance criteria and commonly understood standards; relying on a clear set of procedures for deficient teachers; making remediation a team effort; varying intervention strategies; supplying adequate resources and supportive policies; and…

Principals should delegate the responsibility for research-based curriculum and instructional improvement to career (effective) teachers. Guidelines for planning cooperative in-service education workshops are provided, along with advice concerning goals, target audience, agenda, incentives, estimated budget, and program evaluation approaches. (MLH)

Florida State University's Educational Leadership Consortium Specialist Degree program grew out of collaboration among 17 school districts and Florida State educational faculty. The program recruits practitioners from the 17 districts who demonstrated high leadership potential and wanted to develop their leadership capacity. ELC Specialist degree…

To help students become effective information users from a variety of resources, librarians at one Illinois high school designed a before-school inservice training program, produced a 10-minute video illustrating the research process, and developed tie-ins to each department supporting the curriculum taught by content-area teachers. (14…

Character education builds community by establishing a set of core values that match a school's ideals. Character-education proponents should inspire teachers to discuss ethics in their daily activities and model transformational/transactional leadership styles. Leaders must know their environment, formalize an infrastructure, involve others, and…

Principals of site-based managed schools face numerous special-education program implementation challenges, such as appropriate committee compositions, inconsistent service delivery decisions across schools, interschool isolation, deflection of advocates, and policy guidance problems. Principals are ill-trained for inclusion and special-education…

A Modern Language Association survey of enrollment trends in U.S. colleges found that Spanish, French, and German remain the three most popular language courses. Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic have shown greatest increases between 1960-95. The Less Commonly Taught Languages project provides information, including instructional materials and web…