Concerned about students' poor performance on national tests, one elementary school principal and her staff launched Project READ (Read Exciting Adventures Daily). The program allots 20 minutes daily for schoolwide reading and features home reading contracts, student participation awards, and theme weeks. For one event, the principal dons a…

After South Lyon Community Schools (Michigan) lost their first tax levy campaign, a committee formed to interview voters and devise a new plan discovered that voter priorities had been overlooked. The solution--enlisting community support and communicating the importance of voters' priorities. An inset provides specific campaign techniques. (MLH)

Educators are feeling pressured to accommodate students, parents, and taxpayers to garner community support. Principals pursue customer intimacy; people are demanding their rights; and taxpayers, including aging baby boomers, are searching for bargains. American Federation of Teachers President Al Shanker finds academic standards and customer…

Public support was boosted in a New York State school district by developing evening workshops with staff members, school board memebers, and the public. They centered on clearing up misconceptions about the roles and duties of school staff and administrators. Includes suggestions for keeping presentations short. (MD)

Provides demographic profiles from "Executive Educator's" fourth annual survey of U.S. school executives. Regarding disaster preparedness, only a small percentage of all districts in earthquake-prone areas have earthquake and fire action plans. Concerning controversial issues, teaching about substance abuse, child abuse, and teen suicide meets…

In two years, Cuban-born Superintendent Peter Negroni has worked tirelessly to make the Springfield (Massachusetts) Public Schools a showcase for innovation and school reform. In whirlwind fashion, he has built bridges to the city's business, religious, and social service communities, introduced school-based management to all 40 district schools,…

Although David Hornbeck became Philadelphia Schools' new superintendent in September 1994, critics are already saying the honeymoon is over. In a school system characterized by student absenteeism, high dropout rates, minimal community support, and declining resources, Hornbeck's reform agenda (Children Achieving) may receive inadequate support.…