"The Principal's Playbook: Tackling School Improvement" brings together the best thinking on successful schools and classrooms to help school administrators engage their faculty in discussion about effective school improvement strategies. Designed to support both school improvement efforts and professional development, each chapter includes…

The "2011 Superintendent's Briefing Book" provides comprehensive yet concise overviews of the best thinking available on a wide range of top-priority PreK-12 education concerns. This resource will prove invaluable in making research-based decisions with confidence, and in identifying programs and practices that will improve student achievement.…

In the decade following Columbine High School, educators, communities, and even state legislatures have acknowledged that we can no longer treat bullying as a natural rite of passage. There are strong legal implications for administrators and teachers who ignore bullying behavior. While many districts have increased awareness and ramped up…

The "2010 Superintendent's Briefing Book" provides comprehensive yet concise overviews of the best thinking available on a wide range of top-priority PreK-12 education concerns. This resource will prove invaluable in making research-based decisions with confidence, and in identifying programs and practices that will improve student achievement.…

Making effective use of the findings of research has long been a problem for school leaders. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a number of programs, approaches, and techniques, but the gap between what we know and what we are able to implement is a persistent difficulty in the schools. However, the practice and science of…

This step-by-step guide is a companion to the popular "Listen to Me, Listen to You: A Practical Guide to Self-Awareness, Communication Skills and Conflict Management" (New Expanded Edition, Penguin Books, 2007). It is designed for use by anyone working in communication skills and personal development training. Resource material is grouped under…

Statistical neighbour models provide one method for benchmarking progress. For each local authority (LA), these models designate a number of other LAs deemed to have similar characteristics. These designated LAs are known as statistical neighbours. Any LA may compare its performance (as measured by various indicators) against its statistical…

There is an increasing emphasis on seeking and using the views of children and young people in research, evaluation and consultation. This question was at the centre of a day-long event of presentations and workshops organized by the National Foundation for Education Research in November 2007. Key objectives for the workshop included. (1) Review…

Provides guidelines for what to expect in an article using logistic regression techniques, discussing tables, figures, and charts to be included to comprehensively assess results and assumptions to be verified; demonstrating the preferred pattern for applying logistic methods, with an illustration of logistic regression applied to a data set; and…

Guidelines are proposed to ensure rigor in case studies. Problem representation should be clear and consistent with the original intent of the research. The reader should be able to determine how the evidence was interpreted, conclusions reached, and judgments made. To increase the believability of the case study, the underlying assumptions must…

Discusses the problem of how to record the progress of young children in nursery schools and suggests several benefits of recordkeeping. Briefly reviews existing tests, scales, and assessment methods. Describes a new guide to assessment developed at the University of Keele (England) and its evaluation in an initial study. (MF)

Reports a follow-up study designed to examine the question of cause and effect in the commonly observed association of poor learning with behavior disturbance. Concludes with a discussion of the implications for early diagnosis and treatment of maladjusted behavior in school. (CT)

A Manchester, England, high school designed lower school curriculum structures via computer and investigated their feasibility using the Nor Data School Scheduling System. The positive results suggest that the computer system could provide all schools with an invaluable aid to the planning and implementation of their curriculum. (CT)

This article describes a set of Preactive Decision Exercises (PreDEx) that can be used to evaluate teachers' planning abilities. The exercises present, through simulations, typical situations in which teachers must make planning decisions. The exercises were given to students entering a preservice teacher education program. (Author/PP)

Knowledge of issues that include due process, discrimination, validity, reliability, and inference will assist school administrators in reworking evaluation systems to meet legal and ethical requirements. In so doing, systems become more research based, accurate, and of value in improving teacher effectiveness and providing defensible evidence for…