Summarizes the "Theory Z" characteristics of supervisors whereby they serve as coordinators rather than as buffers or information blocks. (MLF)

Interest in staff development for principals bodes well for teachers and students. By engaging in and modeling learning, principals can create a community of learners. (MLF)

The excellence of a school lies in the way it directs itself--particularly its professional staff--to improve performance. To meet its obligation to be ever self-improving, the faculty should focus on studying students, creating tailored learning experiences, evaluating long-term school effects, and encouraging diversity. (PGD)

The president of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching applauds the push for educational excellence but believes local school personnel are too rarely considered in the reform process. He suggests ways of granting teachers and principals the support and recognition they need to participate effectively in educational improvement.…

John Goodlad suggests that individual schools should be encouraged to establish their own priorities for improvement and should be supported by their districts and by networks of schools with similar concerns. He further suggests that subject area teaching should concentrate on broad concepts rather than on unlimited, discrete topics. (PGD)

Cautions that since education is complex, efforts to improve education must also be complex, extending beyond enabling principals to exert instructional leadership; that patient work is necessary to complete the absorption of changes; and that common standards for educational achievement do not necessitate standardizing teaching methods for all…

Reports on the successful, widespread adoption of the effective schools research model in widely varied districts. Discusses factors common to these school improvement programs, including acceptance of five premises concerning the nature of effective schooling. (PGD)

The Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Public Schools' Project RISE raised the achievement levels of 18 inner-city elementary schools dramatically without changing personnel or student composition, and without additional funding. Improvements were related to change in staff attitudes and in policies and practices affecting management, organization, behavior,…

Evaluation of the school-based, collaborative inservice program implemented by 10 elementary schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky, indicates that ideal conditions are not essential to school improvement. Based on the effective schools research model, the project also provided evidence that local schools will adopt successful programs after pilot…

Discusses the necessity for schools to be responsive to the developmental needs of young adolescents in order to develop an effective learning environment. Analyzes the application of the Middle Grades Assessment Program to this effort, as exemplified in the case of the Francisco Middle School in San Francisco, California. (PGD)

Describes the characteristics and application of the School Assessment Survey, a validated teacher survey instrument that assesses nine organizational dimensions of a school and provides feedback for staff use. (PGD)

Describes the profiling process developed by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory for gathering information about the academic achievement, social behavior, and attitudes of students that can be used as a basis for planning and implementing a school improvement program. (PGD)

Michigan's Wayne State University developed a six-step process in which a university-provided facilitator helps the teaching staff at an individual elementary or secondary school assess its development needs and plan and implement a process for addressing those needs. Two schools' experiences illustrate successful applications of the process. (PGD)

The experience of the Kenmore (New York) Public Schools with an inservice program for school board members and district level administrators and staff suggests the issues that must be addressed when convincing district personnel and board members to accept and support the concept of local school initiatives for educational improvement. (PGD)

Consistent, significant, continuous school improvement depends on enhancing 12 aspects of the school culture: collegiality; experimentation; high expectations; trust and confidence; tangible support; awareness of new knowledge; appreciation and recognition; caring, celebration, and humor; participatory decision-making; protection of vital…