This resource guide provides teachers at all grade levels in the Fort Lee (New Jersey) School District with programs, activities, procedures, and resources to promote mutual understanding and improve inter-group relations between Asian and non-Asian students. Section I, "Outline of Classroom, All-School, and After-School Activities for…

In this two-part paper, an attempt is made to examine the relationship between social contexts and effective schools and specifically to contribute to the development of a conceptual model for understanding how social contexts influence the operation of effective schools and student learning. In the first part, school effects research is drawn…

A study attempted to determine the validity of Jean Epstein's contention that "words about the importance of parent involvement are meaningless without financial and technical support." A survey questionnaire was mailed to 197 individuals (including all 50 state superintendents of education) and 38 individuals suggested by respondents.…

Parental choice represents a promising approach to school improvement; it eliminates the excessive regulation, inefficient operation, and ineffective service that characterize the public monopolies that American schools and school systems have become. However, school reformers should bear in mind the following key points: (1) school performance…

Millions of school children are currently at risk of academic failure; the potential costs to society are staggering. If the central factors causing a child's poor social adjustment can be addressed, both the rate of school failure and social service costs can be reduced. Attempting to control the school failure issue, the Wisconsin State…

This report provides descriptions of strategies for dropout prevention at the secondary level and presents examples of programs that successfully utilize these strategies. The information is based on data from a review of nearly 200 programs at secondary schools across the four-state Western region that includes Arizona, California, Nevada, and…

This document presents one module in a set of training resources for trainers to use with parents and/or professionals serving children with disabilities; focus is on socialization and sexuality of the developmentally disabled. The modules stress content and activities that build skills and offer resources to promote parent-professional…

This report examines parent-involvement programs that focus on Hispanic families and the methods that have been used to evaluate these programs. The survey involved 10 Hispanic parent-involvement programs named by various state education agency directors as being significant. Particular attention was given to whether or not the programs were…

Each of the 1989 dropout prevention programs funded under the New York City Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention (AIDP) Demonstration and Replication Program was successful in meeting some of its objectives, and all of the programs were viewed as valuable by principals and teachers. The program encourages the design and implementation of…

An assistant principal for elementary instruction implemented a 10-week practicum intervention designed to use teacher in-service sessions to encourage the provision of daily opportunities for journal writing to kindergartners and first graders. In-service sessions offered: (1) an overview of highlights of related research; (2) approaches to the…

The Chicago public school system has a 50 percent dropout rate, low-achieving students, a nonresponsive bureaucracy, and many related urban school problems. The Chicago School Reform Act, PA 85-1418, was enacted by the Illinois legislature in 1989 to address the situation. To determine the effectiveness of the Chicago school reform movement thus…

This document describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a 10-week parent effectiveness training program to improve black elementary school student attitudes and participation in extracurricular activities by improving the attitudes of their parents towards school. The program was developed in consultation with teachers and…

The aim of this handbook is to help school improvement groups, parent advisory committees, administrators, and teachers plan for parent participation in their schools. The handbook contains information on the reasons for parent involvement and ideas and strategies various communities have used. Section I provides background information on parent…

The Urban Curriculum Partnership is a collaborative among a rural university and an urban school district and the community it serves. The goal is to help at-risk students reach their academic potential, stay in school, and eventually enter into a postsecondary education program. A district-wide tutoring program was developed and implemented in…

The purpose of this booklet is to relate significant research pertaining to student achievement. Each section defines one of eight research-based variables associated with greater academic achievement and includes some practical applications within school settings. According to the first two sections, high principal and teacher expectations are…