This report, covering 6,489 faculty in political science and government, is part of an annual national survey of faculty salaries. The survey is in two parts one covering public and one covering private four-year colleges and universities. Data for the l995-96 baseline year and 1998-99 trend year were collected for full-time teaching faculty in 53…

Formal and informal assessment of interdisciplinary courses in learning communities indicate that communicating across disciplines is a problem that can diminish the effectiveness of these courses. A new discipline called the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) has been used for 27 years at Maharishi University of Management (Iowa) to…

The Wake County Public School System, North Carolina, conducted the High School Student Survey of students in grades 9 through 12 during the 1998-99 school year. The return rate for the survey was 80.4%. Students responded to a variety of questions related to homework, technology use, fairness, safety, support, and future plans. A majority of the…

This Michigan Department of Education manual provides a detailed guide for members of a child's Individualized Education Program (IEP) team in completing required forms for: (1) development of IEPs for students with disabilities; (2) evaluation review; and (3) manifestation determination review (required when a change of placement is due to…

Group seminars, or small discussion groups, support cooperative reflection between teachers, expose interns to new perspectives, help them develop professional relationships, and allow time for them to expand and deepen their reflective analysis of everyday occurrences. A group of 15 student teachers in an early childhood program at one university…

One of the most pronounced trends in higher education over the last decade has been the increased reliance on instructors outside of the traditional full-time, Ph.D.-trained model. Nearly 43 percent of all teaching faculty were part-time in 1998, and at selective colleges, graduate assistant instructors teach over 35 percent of introductory…

The formulation of effective compulsory attendance laws has been one of the problems confronting legislators and school officials for the past 70 years. The most marked advance in enacting such laws has been made since 1890. Prior to that date only 27 States and the District of Columbia had compulsory laws, and many of these were inoperative. Now…

Research supported by grant no. MH-02238 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and partially supported by NIH grant FR-00222 and FR-05537, general research support grant.

A study of how class size and discipline group (social sciences, humanities, and miscellaneous) correlate with elements of student ratings of faculty and faculty self-evaluation is reported. It was found that discipline does not affect student evaluations but does affect teaching style. Students in small classes are more critical of teachers. (MSE)

Defines behavioral and educational contracts as therapeutic instruments that can be educationally and socially beneficial while enhancing students' self-image. Contracts enable schools to monitor students who have discipline problems and involve them in taking educational responsibilities. (JAC)

Summarizes the major constitutional rights of students which are supported by recent court cases in the areas of religion; freedom of speech, expression, and assembly; student government; academic penalties and grades; pregnant and married students; exclusion from extracurricular activities; punishment; police in the schools; student records; and…

Clarifies the legal rights of students accused of cheating or plagiarism. Suggests a procedure which addresses those student rights while preserving faculty ability to grade students only on their own work. Discusses due process requirements and issues related to punishment and academic freedom. (RC)

After a brief description of recent trends in educational discipline, the article notes some common features of disciplined classrooms: mutual respect, clear expectations, organized teaching and learning, materials geared to learning style and ability, warmth and caring, opportunities to release tension, educationally sound penalty system, and…

An inventory of public school teachers revealed a consensus of what they considered the primary sources of stress. As a result of the survey, a cooperative program of stress reduction was organized focusing on stress-producing problems and developing strategies to overcome them. (JD)

Describes the major characteristics associated with "good" schools, presents examples, and tries to derive some prescriptive principles. "Coherence" was the characteristic most commonly associated with the good schools in the study. (Author/IRT)