This report describes an exemplary Oregon middle school that incorporates a comprehensive program of academic instruction and activity, a community of dedicated staff and involved students, and an orderly environment marked by a businesslike approach to teaching and learning. Outstanding components of Philomath Middle School's climate for learning…

As in 1988, the current status of education is presented in the form of indicators measuring education's "health" and showing major trends and developments. These indicators derive from studies carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and from surveys conducted within and outside the Federal Government. This…

The National Center for Education Statistics gathers and produces statistics and other information on the status and progress of education in the United States. In 1988, the center published the indicators in three volumes, the first two on "The Condition of Education" at the elementary and secondary level and at the postsecondary level,…

Undertaken as a background paper for an early childhood education policy study intended to identify current issues in early childhood education and policy alternatives for consideration by the State Board of Education of Illinois, this report focuses on the effectiveness of early childhood education programs. Specifically addressed are (1) reasons…

This monograph contains four position papers and two conference papers from the Systemic Evaluation Project (fiscal year, 1984) on the methodological issues associated with applying a comprehensive information system in a secondary school setting. These papers represent work in progress at a suburban Los Angeles high school field test of systemic…

Reflective thinking is important to young adolescents as they develop their thinking skills. Various instructional methods have been recommended to support reflective thinking, yet the nature of the underlying factors in these methods is unclear. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factors prompting reflective thinking. Results…

Bourdieu (1973) theorized that differences in social background correspond to differences in possession of cultural resources (cultural capital), as well as the orientation to those resources (habitus). Additionally, Bourdieu argued that struggles for power occur in different settings (fields). This essay reviews Bourdieu's main ideas and…

Significant relationships were found between how teachers teach and how much children learn in reading and mathematics. The study's purpose was to relate classroom observations of experienced elementary school teachers' interactions with their students to changes in the pupils' performance on various measures of reading and mathematical…

A study was conducted to determine whether or not the Personalized, Individualized, Vocational Occupations Training (PIVOT) materials developed by the School District of Philadelphia were capable of developing entry-level competency in secondary school students in a variety of educational settings (comprehensive high schools, an occupational…

It is often proposed that high schools are partly to blame for the decline in achievement test scores. Critics of current practices in education cite the decline in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score averages that has occurred each year since 1963 as evidence. The College Entrance Examination Board Advisory Panel on SAT Score Decline has…

An interdisciplinary, team approach involving a variety of support services and a joint effort on the part of faculty, admissions personnel, peers, and tutors can be an effective tool for use in reducing the anxiety of adults who are returning to education. Whether they are organized to publicize departmental offerings or to explain the function…

Written as part of a series of ethnographic studies, this book is a case study of a Catholic boarding high school for Alaskan Eskimos from remote villages undergoing rapid change. Six chapters appraise the bicultural educational principles employed at St. Mary's: (1) a profile of the students as effective bicultural people; (2) the relationship…

Based on the assumption that the survival of the nation's schools and their leaders depends on these leaders having real influence over the quality of schooling, this volume draws from the work of many authorities to look at leadership from three perspectives: the person, the structure, and the skills. Chapters focusing on the person who holds the…

Revolving around the basic theme of the school, unit three of the fine arts program in Spanish for first graders, with music as its core, is detailed in this teacher's guide. Kits 9-12 contain music, lyrics, graphic representations of melodic contour, and chords for guitar accompaniment for the songs used. Content of four cassettes produced for…

Instructional and assessment activities in unit three of a Spanish science/math curriculum for first graders are built around the central theme of the school. Kits 9-12, each designed for a two to three week teaching period, contain activities which also support who the child is, what his needs and wants are, what his resources are, and how he…