This study examined the influence of schools and teachers on students' attitudes and academic achievement, focusing on teacher characteristics in relation to student achievement. It also looked at three home environment factors (socioeconomic status, educational environment, and home climate) to see if students' family lives were an important…

This report describes educational programs and opportunities available to Washington state's high school students, emphasizing changes brought about by the state's education reform. Information came from surveys and interviews with teachers, students, and parents and state and national data. The study examined whether high schools were increasing…

This report addresses forces affecting Oregon's benchmark goals for education, recommendations about future measurement of the benchmark, research about best practices for improving these standards, and services and programs involved in addressing them. It describes the state of youth and education in Multnomah County through statistics on…

Recent studies have shown that school self-esteem is one of the greatest contributors to overall self-esteem among adolescents in grades 7-12. Research suggests that middle schools play a significant role in the development and socialization of early adolescents. The first purpose of this study was to examine the relations between school…

This comprehensive reference document incorporates the 1997 Master Plan Policies updated and amended with policies adopted by the Illinois Board of Higher Education since the 1997 edition. As a compilation, it includes relevant sections of the comprehensive master plans of the 1960s and 1970s and issue-related policies developed in the 1980s and…

Motivation is the ultimate product of many aspects of the school experience: significant relationships between teachers and students and among students; a meaningful, well-taught curriculum; teachers who maintain high expectations and look for ways to help each student connect to the curriculum; and opportunities for choice and self-evaluation…

This paper outlines two approaches for improving outcomes for students at risk for academic failure. Both take a systemic approach to the problem by focusing on how specific circumstances create a reality of failure for many students. One school analyzed factors related to retention/promotion decisions and determined that four factors directly…

English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students attending mainstream university courses for the first time struggle with language proficiency issues and have to adjust to unfamiliar pedagogical concepts, including an emphasis on critical thinking. The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent and to what degree ESOL and…

Two concepts have been confused: equality of opportunity and equality of ability, which has led us to link intellectual giftedness with elitism. This linkage undercuts the ability to nurture and benefit from the gifts of the gifted, an important issue in rural places experiencing either withering economies and loss of population or an influx of…

This review investigated the available literature on diversity and its relationship to teacher thinking. The literature review produced 36 studies, from which five categories emerged: beliefs teachers hold about student diversity and student performance; effective teaching in diverse settings; the impact of teacher experience on teacher cognition…

This report presents findings from an investigation of the perceptions, hopes, and fears of educators as they work toward including students with disabilities in Minnesota's High Standards. The findings are from questionnaires and interviews that were conducted from January to March 1999, with 90 educators across all grade levels from ten schools…

This paper suggests that students and their learning should become the focus of everything that college faculty do, examining what is currently known about student learning and where this knowledge comes from. Two large volumes have been published on what is known about student learning in college. A distillation of what is known can be extracted…

A meta-analysis of 77 studies on teacher expectancies led to the following conclusions: student attractiveness, conduct, cumulative folder information, race, and social class were related to teacher expectancies. Student gender and the number of parents at home were not related to teacher expectancies. (Author/LC)

The relationships among people's satisfaction with current living conditions, expectations concerning future conditions, and prospective mobility are examined for residents of large cities. Research results show that efforts to enhance expectations of improved physical conditions will help to nullify outmigration from central cities as well as…

Discusses transfer students, difficulties and expectations from four year colleges, and reasons why half of them never finish baccalaureate degrees. It is suggested that transfer programs emphasize clear information, speedy processing, separate orientation, and communication with two-year colleges. (JAC)