The information in this packet has been selected for the purpose of assisting educators in their efforts to create and sustain effective schools for all students. The articles in Section I, "Overview and Resources," contain statistical profiles assessing minority progress, research information on the effects of desegregation, and…

Use of multiple data sources for evaluation of faculty performance by the DeKalb County (Georgia) School System is described. Focus is on two evaluations, the administrator evaluation and the counselor evaluation; the former has been employed longer than any other component of the evaluation system, while the latter is scheduled for its second…

Sociologist Willard Waller, writing more than 50 years ago, framed many of the key ideas found in contemporary literature on school organization. This paper is both an appreciation and criticism of Waller's seminal case studies of social interaction in schools. The paper is divided into four sections. The first two explore Waller's thought and its…

A comparison of Middle Tennessee Rural (MTR) schools with the national sample of schools included in Kappa Delta Pi's Good Schools Project (GSP) focused on the areas of curriculum perspectives, goal attainment, classroom practices, interpersonal relations, commitment, discipline and safety, support services and facilities, and decision making. The…

A Teachers Corps staff development project involved the collaboration of a school district, the community, and a college of education in a variety of activities designed to improve school climate and to reduce teacher stress. Descriptions are given of the needs assessments conducted among school staff, students, and community members from the…

An analysis is presented of a review of research reports on the efficacy of direct instruction in fostering basic skills development. The review process began with a topical literature search using the ERIC database and conventional library methods. Articles and other documents were analyzed and abstracted into "Item Reports." Each of…

This checklist was developed to aid elementary school principals in long range planning for the school year. It is the product of the Management for Effective Teaching (MET) Project, which is funded by the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools, and which is responsible for developing materials to help to implement objectives of the Program of…

This text was developed for the use of beginning student teaching interns and their supervising teachers. The text employs a case study method for introducing topics and events, pertinent to the student teaching experience, for discussion. Case studies are presented by topic, each with a brief general introduction and suggestions for supervising…

This book presents the results of research on sociopsychological factors that affect the schooling process and academic achievement among young children. The first chapter of the report provides a background on schooling, and reviews what is known and what remains to be discovered about academic achievement. Chapters 2 and 3 review research on…

This report evaluates the initial year of a project implemented in 15 elementary and 5 junior high schools in Cleveland in support of the schools' efforts to install effective school procedures designed to upgrade students' basic skills and academic achievement. The report deals with the following areas: (1) district support for the project; (2)…

This monograph is written to help school administrators and policy makers, in addressing the question of safe schools, separate analytically what is "school" and what is "society" in order to better understand the real span of the school's control. The central question is: what are the characteristics of safe and effective…

To provide a framework for the design and implementation of school improvement efforts, this booklet presents summaries of research on major factors influencing student achievement--school and classroom characteristics, educational expenditures, the quantity and quality of professional staff, and social environment--and conclusions based on that…

Research relevant to instructional improvement has usually been conducted from one of three perspectives: the adoption of improvements in the classroom, the dissemination of information about improvements to practitioners, or the relationship between adoption of improvements and the administrative organization of the adopting agency. This paper…

The future of K-12 social studies is examined in this volume, one in a series resulting from Project SPAN (Social Studies/Social Science Education: Priorities, Practices, and Needs). The report contains four sections. The first section presents "A Summary of Project SPAN." The project reviewed and analyzed the current state of K-12…

A study examined the relationship between different types of learning climates and the levels of academic achievement in extra-mural classes in Nigeria. Investigated during the course of the study were the following six types of learning climates: open, autonomous, controlled, familiar, paternal, and closed. To determine what, if any, relationship…