Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, a study of 21 secondary schools nationwide, involved continual tension between the need for a coherent and shared national research approach and the need to allow local variation and initiative. A member of the national coordinating committee explores how this tension affected research design and the writing of…

In Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, a national committee designed and coordinated 21 case studies. A committee member recounts decisions made about design and method, and highlights differences between method and methodology, as well as variations in conceptualization of qualitative research. Discusses the meaning of "exemplary," school…

Qitiqliq Secondary School (Arviat, Keewatin region, Northwest Territories) is the only Inuit school in Canada's Exemplary Schools Project. White "mainstream" researchers describe the challenges of striving to understand culture, change, and success in the school and community, and focus on the shifting social, linguistic, economic, and political…

One school in Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, Grandy's River Collegiate, is a rural high school threatened with closure because it does not meet Newfoundland's new "viability" requirements (primarily involving school size). Compares characteristics of several types of schools, and suggests that schools such as Grandy's are suited to the rural…

New Norway, a small rural Alberta school, has few dropouts, and half its graduates enter postsecondary education. Case study in Canada's Exemplary Schools Project outlines elements of school culture contributing to success: close community connections; principal's role; individual support for students; focus on independent study skills and task…

Part of Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, l'Ecole secondaire de Pain Court is a minority francophone secondary school in southwest Ontario with a linguistically and culturally diverse student population. Case study describes the development of solid school-community partnerships that have eased intergroup tensions and contributed to the social…

Part of Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, Georges Vanier Secondary School--a large school near Toronto--meets the needs of an extremely diverse student population by developing expanded curricular options and special programs that focus on student social and developmental needs. Case study explores tensions among school staff with varying views…

Part of Canada's Exemplary Schools Project, Vancouver Technical Secondary School--a large inner-city comprehensive school--meets the needs of a diverse student population through "schools-within-a-school." Case study focuses on the "dilemma of difference," in which efforts of elite, vocational, cultural, and dropout-prevention minischools to…

Discusses three types of alternative high schools and factors associated with success in meeting the needs of at-risk or marginalized youth in these schools. Describes Contact Alternative High School (Toronto)--part of Canada's Exemplary Schools Project--and the ways in which it has incorporated such success factors in its educational philosophy,…

The model of cognitive ability proposed by John B. Carroll is described and its implications for education traced. The Carroll model is unique in that it is based on datasets reanalyzed by standard procedures. The variables and factors established through factoring were used to construct the three-stratum Carroll model. (SLD)

The eight chapters of this theme issue report on studies from 12 countries that focus on the movement toward boundary crossing in education to involve families and communities in education. International studies further the understanding of the effects interventions have in promoting partnerships in education. (SLD)

A subtest of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test dealing with interpretation of diagrams, tables, and maps (DTM) was studied to see whether the position or other characteristics of test items affected the noted gender differences in results. Results with 116,017 students show an effect of position on gender differences. (SLD)

The attitudes of 563 Finnish parents toward ongoing educational reforms and their satisfaction with the functioning of comprehensive schools were studied. Their appraisals of the schools were fairly positive. Middle-class parents were more likely to endorse selectiveness in the schools; working-class parents were more likely to endorse…

The efficiency of public day care centers in Sweden was studied by collecting data on inputs and services for about 200 centers and analyzing the information by data envelopment analysis. Results show large differences in efficiencies among centers, but these differences have few systematic relations to quality. (SLD)

A Swedish empathy test for professional helpers, the Affect Reading Scale, was developed and tested on several occasions with 1000 caregivers in different sectors. Results support the conceptual validity of the scale and demonstrate that it is responsive to educational experiences that influence empathy. (SLD)