Noting that most junior high level curricula do not take into account students' rapid mental and physical changes, the articles in this focused journal issue recommend works and teaching strategies that harmonize with these student needs. The titles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Adolescent Development and the Growth of Writing…

To discover whether school districts can develop highly rationalized forms of instructional management, this study gathered data from a telephone survey conducted in the school year 1983-84 of administrators in 30 western districts. The instructional management practices of these districts were then compared with an "ideal type" of…

Key points of presentations are captured in this report of a conference which addressed issues of concern to educators in Alaska's small schools. A total of 119 presentations are briefly summarized. Contents are organized under five headings: effective leadership strategies, curriculum and instruction, computers and telecommunication, assessment,…

In order to develop a formula to measure effective schooling and student achievement, a number of reports on excellence in education were reviewed: (1) The National Commission on Excellence in Education's report, "A Nation at Risk"; (2) The Education Commission of the States Task Force on Education for Economic Growth report; (3) The…

A number of changes have been made in student assessment at the University of Montana School of Law, in an attempt to assess elements of student performance as well as knowledge level. Within the educational goal of blending legal theory and practical skills, practicing lawyers were surveyed about what a good lawyer should be able to do and should…

Intended as a plan for action, this report provides a wide array of recommendations for improving the education of children and adults in Kentucky. Chapter I discusses teachers and teaching in terms of classroom and school conditions for teaching, continuing professional growth and development, professional advancement and evaluation, and teacher…

This paper reports the results of research examining the long-term success of Sweden's educational reforms. The paper's first section describes the Swedish educational system's structure, noting the roles played by the national government, local governments, and the National Board of Education. The second section of the paper looks at Sweden's…

This report summarizes the proceedings of an Ohio Department of Education conference convened to describe, define, and develop activities that would provide a working model of the school principal as the instructional leader. First, the results of a pre-conference principals' needs assessment, which formed the basis for conference planning and…

The Roosevelt School District, with the lowest wealth per pupil of the 56 districts located in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, worked with the Urban Education Department of the University of Massachusetts' Division of Instructional Leadership to design and implement a degree-granting staff development program centered around identifying and…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 33 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the relative frequency of various practices for teaching writing as perceived by authorities in the field; (2) the experience of composition and word…

Assembled from perceptual data gathered from questionnaires, this report outlines teachers' and administrators' opinions based on their first year's experience teaching handwriting (the Beginner's Alphabet) to first grade children using a new syllabus. Nine supporting tables are included and response statistics are detailed (Appendix 1 contains…

Goals for Alabama public higher education for the next 10 years are recommended by the Council of Twenty-One. The achievement of excellence is the central developmental goal recommended to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, the governor and legislature, the boards and administrators of colleges and universities, and business, labor, and…

Sixty-five cost reduction efforts on college and university campuses are described, as part of the Cost Reduction Incentive Awards Program sponsored by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the United States Steel Foundation. The incentive program is designed to stimulate cost-effective ideas and awareness of the…

An extensive literature exists on what makes good teachers, focusing on their characteristics, their behaviors in the classroom, and the effects they have on their students. This literature points to three groups as being currently involved in defining good teachers: students, who, as research demonstrates, are reliable observers, fair and…

Innovative programs at Utah community and technical colleges are described and other topics of interest to faculty, staff, and administrators are addressed in this collection of articles. The journal contains the following articles by Utah two-year college faculty members: (1) "Open Access and Academic Excellence at Dixie College," by…