Expectations for the principalship have mushroomed during the past 20 years. Principals are key reform agents and held mercilessly accountable. Candidates are in short supply. Capable principals are great assets, not heroic beings. Leadership is not centrally vested and must be distributed more broadly. (Contains 36 references.) (MLH)

Even when complex statistical formulas are used in setting cutoffs for standardized tests, their mathematical precision is no substitute for sound professional judgment. Raising standards or increasing expectations for student learning is not accomplished simply by raising cutoff percentages for performance levels or different grade categories.…

The great majority of high-school seniors expect to attend college and are at least minimally qualified, although far fewer enroll in 4-year institutions, and still fewer graduate. Noncompleters might fare better academically and economically at 2-year colleges. In 1994, 90 percent of college grads had college-level jobs. (MLH)

Tested experience with diversity as the key to teaching tolerance by studying 2,184 eighth grade social-studies students attending 7 public and 24 private schools in New York City and Fort Worth, Texas. Private schools currently perform slightly better at encouraging interethnic friendships and developing support for democratic norms. (Contains 23…

The Data in a Day self-study program has numerous distinguishing features to help schools strengthen their capacity as learning communities. The program focuses on teaching and learning, involves the entire school community, emphasizes student voice, leads to insights translating into action, affirms strengths, and identifies areas needing…

The current academic tenure system is unacceptable, since the reward system favors research over work with teachers. Four alternative models include developing a charter with education faculty exemptions, reforming tenure codes, specifying tenure alternatives and differentiated tasks, and dispensing with tenure altogether. Implementation tips are…

A study finds that American students are engaged with lessons only 54 percent of the time, due to external preoccupations and uninspired instruction. The Heritage Foundation's "No Excuses" report makes misleading correlations between scores, phonics, and socioeconomic variables. Florida housing prices reflect letter grades assigned to neighborhood…

In a case involving a swim-team student's mandatory pregnancy test and a varsity coach's mishandling of confidentiality, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals awarded the coach qualified immunity, while rejecting the student's Fourth and First Amendment claims. Discretion and legal counsel would have helped. (MLH)

Under a bill amending Ontario, Canada's Educational Accountability Act, teachers were expected to resume formerly "voluntary" extracurricular duties they resigned when ordered to teach an extra class. The government's strategy to recast these activities as "co-instructional" did not fly. However, the education minister is awaiting a more…

Standardized test results are skewed by family socioeconomic status. Until top-down, corporate-style testing is eliminated, genuine reforms like cooperative learning and multi-age classrooms will be doomed. Citizens should learn about local tests, talk to neighbors, speak out at school board meetings, write legislators, and challenge proponents to…

Public education could be significantly improved if proponents of standards-based reform could join with critics of high-stakes testing (the "evil twin") and outlaw using such tests as sole indicators of student success. Authentic, standards-based reform is concerned with equity and quality, demands teacher collaboration, and addresses demands for…

An experienced teacher deplores the loony test questions used to make pass/fail decisions for Atlanta-area students. Test resistance is growing. Concerned teachers and parents nationwide are mailing copies of high-stakes tests to the media, lobbying legislators, spearheading protest organizations, and challenging politicians to take tests. (MLH)

Rationalization shapes our conceptions of education, using measurement (quantification) to assess quality, stressing control and prediction, downplaying interactions, promoting comparisons, and relying on extrinsic incentives. This approach has spawned a grade-oriented system. A 5-year testing moratorium would free educators to ask better…

Parents' nostalgia and waning confidence in teachers' competence are primary obstacles to improving schools. Teaching and public education are at a crossroads. One road involves teachers and parent partners in a broad social movement that ultimately protects and redefines teacher professionalism. The other leads to deprofessionalization of…

Common factors contributing to teachers' resistance include risk aversion, craft expertise, and autonomy and isolation. Leaders' problem is to create ownership, not buy-in. Principals cannot make change alone or by edict, but must nurture engagement and commitment and motivate groups to learn and solve problems cooperatively. (MLH)