Ribault (Florida) Senior High School has reported a dramatic increase in student achievement levels since implementing a comprehensive college preparation curriculum. Among the program changes that contributed to those gains are: (1) the establishment and consistent enforcement of a strong discipline program, including rules for student conduct, a…

This review analyzes case law in the area of student press and distribution and offers some guidelines for developing and implementing school policy and rules. Litigation is reviewed in order to clarify students' rights, limitations on administrative authority in matters of censorship and prior restraint, and actions in connection with writing and…

This chapter examines cases reported during 1981 concerning school employees. In the format used, federal questions are addressed first, then issues associated with state laws. The author deals with cases in the areas of discrimination in employment, substantive constitutional rights of speech and association and privacy, and procedural due…

A Florida State Department of Education technical assistance paper on expulsion of handicapped students is presented. Contents are as follows: historical information on court decisions, issues questions and answers, brief summaries of seven court cases dealing with expulsion of handicapped students, and sample materials from three local school…

Only by examining the way teachers actually use instructional time and engage students in the teaching-learning process can educators gain a clearer understanding of student learning. A critical examination of students' opportunity to learn should include the goals a teacher holds for students and the tasks assigned, the teaching methods utilized,…

This inventory was developed to serve as a working tool to help local education agencies review existing policies and practices that may negatively affect students' achievement and encourage their dropping out, especially in grades 7 through 12. The following areas are covered: (1) instruction; (2) discipline; (3) support services; (4) attendance;…

Twentieth century science is producing a wonderland of paradoxes, a new scientific literature of subjective, imaginative writing, a validation of all creative expression in the arts, and interaction with the so-called subjective and pseudo sciences from psychiatry to the paranormal. Cartesian dualism and reductionistic thinking have formed the…

Communication between individuals from different cultures can fail simply because of the culturally-oriented assumptions that speakers make about one another's responses. The higher rate of discipline referrals among African-American males involves behavior that is related to cultural and communicative issues. In an effort to build their…

Alternatives for testing the achievement of college students in Maryland are reviewed by committee members appointed by the State Board for Higher Education and Maryland's public institutions of higher education. The achievement testing alternatives would be a means of assessing institutional effectiveness; all entail the use of tests currently in…

A study determined how direct instruction is being used and why it is being used the way that it is. Data were collected through observations and interviews from teachers and principals in 12 elementary schools involved in a school improvement project based, in part, on direct instruction. Results show that, in general, the elements of direct…

Teachers have the same rights as others, under the first amendment, to express their views outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, however, the teacher is obliged to meet the expectations of the job, and this implies reasonable restrictions on the expression of private views. United States Supreme Court cases have reviewed the teacher's right…

Teachers need to realize that they are the true professionals holding the real power for taking discipline actions in the classroom. This book offers a comprehensive resource guide of strategies, procedures, and possible actions. After an introductory chapter (1), section I deals with teacher beliefs on discipline in these chapters: (2) "Beyond…

Given that the task of freshman composition is to initiate students into the multidisciplinary academic discourse community, English teachers can speed up the novice's introduction more effectively than can specialists in those disciplines by having students observe, analyze, and produce the salient features of a discourse community's…

This paper describes the results of a study of the microcomputer use patterns reflected by more than 13,000 users' records from the microcomputer laboratory at Western Kentucky University for 1983 to 1986. The data analyzed focused on: (1) numbers of users; (2) frequent user groups; (3) sex differences; (4) prime time usage; (5) the use of…

Average salary increases for 2,399 faculty in the field of communications are reported for 1982-1983 and 1985-1986, as part of the College and University Personnel Association's annual faculty salary studies. Included are comparative data for 108,074 faculty at 174 public colleges and 193 private colleges, representing 41 academic disciplines. In…