Decentralized decision-making is an important characteristic of effective schools. Effective decentralization requires that teachers, parents, students, and the community be involved, despite the various problems they face. The creation of school improvement councils is one step towards implementing the massive structural change needed to improve…

Focuses on characteristics of rural Black families and the importance of their role in the education of handicapped children. Urges schools and teachers to understand the cultural strengths of rural Black children and use these cultural advantages to optimize the learning environment. (JHZ)

Compares the efficacy of a school-based health program to an equivalent home-based program with 2,250 third grade students in Minnesota. Students in the school-based program had gained more knowledge at posttest; however, students in the home-based program evidenced more psychosocial and dietary behavior change. (Author/BJV)

La Escuelita, a primary-level program of second language (Spanish) instruction set in an elementary school, was developed for preschool and elementary education students through the collaborative work of enthusiastic, creative teachers and a strong support group of school officials, interested students, and parents. (CB)

Reviews the implications of James Coleman's report, "Public and Private High Schools" for education reform and Catholic schools, focusing on issues related to free choice between public and private schools, school organization, parent involvement, and values. (DMM)

Provides summaries of presentations given at a symposium organized at the 40th Northwest Regional Conference of the American Chemical Society. The participants addressed the role of scientists involved with educating the public, starting at the third-grade level, and continuing with high school, parents, citizen groups, and the general public. (TW)

School change is examined using the experiences of local educational change projects in Sweden. Specifically discussed are Swedish educational development centers that encourage experiments directly involving teachers and the SSK experiment in Uppsala designed to give teachers, parents, and pupils a greater say and more responsibility in…

This report provides a consolidated public record of the performance of Edison-run schools. Edison agrees to provide annually to each local partner comprehensive information about the operation and outcomes of its local partnership schools. Edison is also required by charter-school laws to report on its partnership schools. This report includes…

The second edition of "Multicultural Counseling in Schools" documents the tremendous change and improvement that is evident in the theory and practice of multicultural school counseling. Consistent with the new directions of the American School Counselor Association, this edition reflects cutting-edge thinking about the proper role and…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is President George W. Bush's education reform law passed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress. This guide for parents summarizes the main provisions of the law, answers common questions, and provides information on where to find additional resources. The first part of the guide provides an introduction and…

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. This paper looks at early childhood education and identifies issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Chapters cover: (1) the national policy context, Indigenous educational…

Nevada Revised Statute 385.347, the School Accountability Law, requires that Nevada's school districts provide information to the public about the performance of the state's individual public schools and districts. This report reviews accountability information from 372 Nevada schools for the 1994-95 school year. Data are provided on the following…

This report describes Oakland, California's Oakland Community Organizations (OCO), which is committed to the improvement of long-term prospects for families and youth living in the Oakland flatlands neighborhoods. These are low- to moderate-income, traditionally African American communities where numerous immigrant groups have settled in recent…

Mexico and Guatemala are undergoing changes in their educational systems due to a paradigm shift that replaces ethnic assimilation with pluralism. Both countries' governments have legally recognized the linguistic and cultural diversity of their countries via amendments to their constitutions. Both countries face tremendous obstacles in…

This comprehensive review of parent involvement examines more than 200 studies to identify what research says about attitudes toward parent involvement, how parent involvement is practiced, and how parent involvement affects student achievement. The review also identifies research-based applications educators can use to implement effective parent…