To avoid the pitfalls of past curriculum projects, marine educators must be aware of what affects a teacher's willingness to use new ideas and materials. Summarized are findings from a study of factors which influence the extent to which teachers are receptive to educational innovations. (Author/WB)

Discusses factors revealed by educational research that improve student learning and over which administrators and trustees have some control: school atmosphere and instructional time. Offers 14 steps for implementing research findings into educational innovations. (NEC)

University of Akron administrators recognized that the library was the primary information resource on campus and the Web was another form of information. Previously, responsibility for Web development and policy passed between various committees and subcommittees. This article describes the implementation of a university Webmaster within the…

The biggest barrier to fully implementing a program like the Big Six has been traditional attitudes toward student assessment. This article defines assessment terminology and provides an annotated bibliography of World Wide Web resources for alternative assessment, authentic assessment and portfolios, rubrics, specific course content and ages and…

Explores where in the school-budgeting process decentralized decision making could be used. People at the building site should be evaluating the programs and making decisions about their effectiveness and continued funding. (MLF)

Describes ChickScope, a 21-day chick embryonic development project, to demonstrate the remote control of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instrument through the World Wide Web. Topics include remote instrumentation and the Web, teacher-based implementation, impact in elementary and secondary school classrooms, and future directions. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the measurement of customer satisfaction with public school districts based on collaborative efforts generated by the Florida Schoolyear 2000 Initiative. Describes implementing customer satisfaction surveys in Florida, explains the testing of the surveys with businesses and parents, and discusses trends in performance improvement. (LRW)

Scotch College (Adelaide, Australia) has networked 90% of its classrooms. This article describes the campus computer network and its hardware and configuration; World Wide Web problems and solution; a "mini Internet" of curriculum-specific materials gathered from the Web; student and faculty use; student and staff training; security;…

Committed to utilizing information technology, the Westchester Library System (New York) made the World Wide Web publicly accessible. Describes the planning, implementation, and management process; obstacles involving financing; establishing Internet connectivity; and vendor negotiations. Westchester hired a Web manager, created Internet use…

In 5 years, the schools and community of Carrollton, Georgia, created a school systemwide network of 1,400 computers and 70 CD-ROMs connected by a fiber wide-area network to other city institutions and the Internet with grants from local, state, and national industry. After incorporating the new technologies into the curriculum, the dropout rate…

Small group discussions with Illinois State University freshmen to evaluate the integration of library instruction and technology training in a new gateway course found that students were confused about course purpose, that students received inadequate instruction in e-mail use, and that campus e-mail technology was inadequate to meet demands of…

Examines the teacher as a change agent when implementing a first-year, K-2 multicultural literacy learning program. A case study focuses on a kindergarten teacher's experiences and examines the program's development, the changes that occurred in classroom practice and home-school communication, and school staff resistance to change. (GR)

Examines parent-teacher relationships in early childhood programs, including those for children with disabilities, across five eras of the 20th century. The general approaches have been the earlier tendency to view parents as learners in need of information and the recent trend to involve them in program decision making. (SLD)

Presents a case study of how the Oak Park School District (Michigan) used feedback on student achievement in its 16-step strategic planning process to frame reflection and action to improve performance. The quantitative analysis of data grouped in relation to district standards is a unique aspect of their approach. (SLD)

The study examines relationships among variations in the implementation of participative decision making, instructional improvement, and student learning in 1 school district of about 3,300 students over 5 years. Findings support the conclusion that teacher participation in decision making is related to instructional improvement and better student…