In 1992, Texas A & M University's College of Education established the Texas Education Collaborative, a center for professional development and technology, to redesign teacher preparation and staff development programs. In 1996, the TEC joined with the university's Principal's Center to focus on principals' development in schools reconceived…

According to this literature review, school practices such as placement of at-risk students in alternative, nontraditional programs, individualized counseling, low student-teacher ratio, heavy vocational emphasis, and peer tutoring successfully lower dropout rates, whereas remediation, retention in grade, tracking, and suspension only exacerbate…

The National Association of Secondary School Principals and the American School Counselor Association concur that a school-counseling program's success requires capitalizing on counselors' training, expertise, and ability to deliver a program that contributes significantly to the school's mission and supports expectations of new standards and…

Changes in administrative procedures can help schools achieve their goals. Principals must cultivate the necessary networking and empowerment by providing staff members with training, time to review their philosophies, and access to student data. These approaches helped a Virginia high school adopt total quality management and block scheduling.…

In response to growing numbers of school-based and -linked integrated-service programs, university partnerships among schools of education, health, and social work are forming to prepare professionals with necessary skills, knowledge, and dispositions to work collaboratively in urban neighborhoods. An interdisciplinary training program at an…

A Virginia science and technology high school restructured its ninth-grade curriculum by clustering three core courses in an integrated program. Students work with resource managers at Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge to gather data on species inhabiting the area. They prepare well-researched reports and present them to peers, faculty, and…

Discusses three timely Individuals with Disability Act issues confronting school personnel: implications of complex health services related to the Supreme Court "Garret F" ruling; use of functional assessment as mandated by IDEA 1997 discipline amendments; and handling of Section 504 issues related to Asperger Syndrome. (Contains 16…

A 1993 National Study of High School Restructuring surveyed principals of 3,380 high schools concerning restructuring elements being used. Although 10-15% of U.S. schools are being restructured, few are simultaneously employing key elements (performance standards, authentic assessment, interdisciplinary curriculum, school-based decision making,…