Teachers just out of college need the help of their principals in adjusting to their new roles. This article discusses six difficulties that often face new teachers and suggests eight long-term orientation techniques that have proved successful. (PGD)

A survey of principals and superintendents from variously sized districts revealed that program evaluations were generally found useful (particularly by superintendents) but were judged by many principals to be incapable of measuring some important program effects. Administrators tended to interact infrequently with evaluators, placing primary…

Describes the methods and results of an evaluation of a year-round junior high school program in the Bethel (Washington) school district. Discusses the opinions of teachers, students, and parents, and notes that tests revealed that student achievement levels were similar to those of a comparable district on a conventional schedule. (PGD)

Experience in 12 Colorado school districts suggests that implementation of a four-day school week can offer several benefits, including savings in fuel costs, decreased absenteeism, improved efficiency in activity-oriented classes, increased staff development time, and a flexible "fifth day" for extracurricular activities. (PGD)

Explains how a survey of staff, students, parents, and community members was used to develop an equitable and effective high school dress and behavior code. Describes the sanctions established for violations and a mandatory after-school instructional program for students suspended from regular classes. (Author/PGD)

Proposes questions that can be raised by principals evaluating the character and effectiveness of their high schools. Suggests studying the nature of daily school operations, the school program, the school's structure and schedule, student activities, staff quality, guidance services, off-campus learning opportunities, administration, and school…

This conclusion of an article started last issue proposes a model for assessing teacher effectiveness that identifies six categories of independent variables (teacher and student characteristics, experiences, and properties), one of process variables (teacher and student behaviors and interactions), and one of dependent variables (immediate and…

Describes the development and characteristics of the Student Assistance Program, a successful drug and alcohol abuse prevention and counseling program for high school students in Westchester County (New York). Students volunteering or required to accept counseling are abusers themselves or children of alcoholics. (PGD)

Provides a checklist of the most important techniques for interviewing potential faculty members, as selected by a panel of personnel directors. The purposes served by these techniques fall into four categories: helping candidates relax and express themselves, and helping interviewers evaluate candidates' teaching competence and enthusiasm for…

Teachers aware of education as an ecological concern in which organisms (the teacher and the learner) interact with each other and their environment (the learning situation) realize that education is not merely a matter of transmitting facts but also involves developing a consciousness of relationships, change, and potentials. (PGD)

Describes the characteristics and effectiveness of the I/D/E/A Principals' Inservice Program, in which principals form collegial support groups to encourage one another in planning and implementing personal professional development and school improvement projects and in committing themselves to permanent programs of continuous improvement. (PGD)

Principals supporting effective programing for gifted students should exhibit competencies listed in this article when exercising planning and leadership, developing philosophy, determining goals and objectives, understanding gifted students' characteristics, identifying gifted students, financing and staffing the program, providing guidance and…

Offers 12 suggestions for enhancing principals' leadership skills. (PGD)

Discusses the nature of the movement to include scientific creationism in the school curriculum and science textbooks, explains the extent of scientists' acceptance of evolution, and describes actions being taken to counteract creationist efforts in an organized and effective manner. (PGD)

Linking his observations with existing research on teacher and school effectiveness, the author identifies four leadership functions directly related and two functions indirectly related to the achievement of instructional effectiveness. Questions to ask to identify effective principals are provided for each of the six leadership functions.…