Two prominent leaders in education, Charles Suhor and Jane Stallings, are interviewed concerning the present status and significant effects of the basic skills movement, the effect the National Commission on Excellence in Education report will have on basic skills education, and the number one priority for education in the future. (DCS)

By using the deductive or the inductive approach to needs assessment, or a combination of both approaches, school administrators can allocate physical or human resources in accordance with community priorities. (DCS)

By focusing on the entire community as stakeholders in the public schools, the school board, the superintendent, and principals are forced to identify and cultivate the diverse groups in the community. Eight essential steps to developing an effective stakeholder management strategy are listed. (Author/DCS)

William Van Til's three proposed scenarios for the future of secondary education are examined 10 years later, and American education is found to have reached a critical point as it goes through a transition from one era to another. (DCS)

The author comments on 25 statements in the "Nation at Risk" report. (DCS)

Well-managed companies and excellent schools have similar characteristics, based on an understanding of people's needs and the integration and utilization of that understanding by the organization for its purposes. Teachers, administrators, and the business community should be involved in educational change, along with education policy experts and…

Provides a checklist to help principals assess whether thinking skills are being taught in their schools and suggests what needs to be done to improve such teaching. (DCS)

Student-made learning centers get students totally involved in the learning process. By creating and using such centers, students are gaining cognitive and affective skills, as well as a knowledge of research methods. Tables show Bloom's taxonomy of learning, steps for creating a learning center, and a center evaluation form. (DCS)

An assistant principal suggests six changes in the role and responsibilities of assistant principals to help them prepare for principalship. (DCS)

The role of privilege in defamation suits arising from the evaluation of public educators is explored in light of the "Manguso vs. Oceanside Unified School District" court case, in which a teacher brought a libel charge against a superintendent. (DCS)

Valley High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico, uses cable television in many ways. The educational access channels aid in classroom instruction, students take part in national and local teleconferences, the public access channel is used to tell the community about the school, and students learn to use video equipment. (DCS)

The Phoenix Union High School District, Phoenix, Arizona, offers students four types of counseling support groups as part of its chemical awareness program. (DCS)

Rainier Beach High School, Seattle, Washington, uses a three-day freshman orientation program to prepare ninth graders for the high school experience and to help the high school to better know and provide for them. (DCS)

Offers practical suggestions for minimizing 14 problems that frequently occur when curriculum programs are evaluated. Timing evaluations, evaluating appropriate factors, making meaningful comparisons, meeting skepticism, selecting tests, selecting evaluators, assessing evaluation results, and maintaining credibility are among the concerns…

Vague goals, unmanaged technology, minimal accountability, and little contact among staff members are characteristics that many schools share with other loosely coupled organizations. Effective schools do not share these characteristics. Some strategies for eliminating these traits are suggested. (PGD)