This stringent promotion/retention policy has retained two to three times more students than before implementation. Further, the academic performance of retained students substantially improved between the year prior to retention and year following promotion. The policy is being well accepted by the community. (PB)

This innovative high school gives no grades and students satisfy graduation requirements through unique combinations of classes, apprenticeships, independent study, work, and travel. Funding is mostly public and flexible. A benefit has been low turnover in the principalship. The school is an important community resource. (PB)

Contradictory public expectations, public and administrative indifference to intellectual content and process in schools, an absence of any clear educational mission, and fragmentation of power characterize today's schools. Decision making is thus increasingly difficult. Restored purpose and power require shared vision and effective use of power.…

Risk arises from foreign competitors and our educational mediocrity. Nevertheless, causes for optimism exist in the commission's recommendations on curriculum content, standards and expectations, school time, teaching, leadership, and fiscal support. Neglected themes of the commission's report include lifelong learning and compatibility of…

Schools play too many roles; their fundamental purpose is teaching basic skills, computer literacy, sciences, languages, and civics. This report acknowledges the importance of state and local control, but argues that only the federal government can pursue the national interest in having quality schools, equality of access, and quality control. (PB)

Seeking to strengthen secondary education to improve academic preparation for college, the EQuality Project identifies and explains basic academic competencies: reading, writing, speaking, listening, mathematics, reasoning, and studying. (PB)

An examination of the origins and significance of the 15 years of surveys reveals enduring public faith in education, a need for an informed public, and considerable stability in public attitudes. Two tables identify public estimations of biggest school problems and attitudes toward change and innovation. (PB)

Conducted during May 15-22, 1983 in the United States, this survey of 1,540 adults, age 18 and older, provides tables and figures that alert decision makers to overall public reactions to a variety of school programs and policies and serves as a national benchmark against which local attitudes can be measured. (PB)

Observation of classroom coping behaviors of 1,066 K-12 students and of several hundred effective public school teachers provides discipline strategies for classroom management. Teachers apply one of seven treatment schedules after identifying a student's coping behavior. Tables show eight coping styles and abbreviated treatment schedules. (PB)

Now managed by the Educational Testing Service, the National Assessment of Educational Progress intends to generate current and reliable information on education; to communicate information in many different forms by various media; and to help educators, parents, legislators, and concerned citizens understand how to use that information. (PB)

Quality education occurs by improving the instructional and administrative means used to achieve intelligent ends. The experiences of Superintendent Parker in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1873, emphasize the need to seek understanding and meaning, to see education whole, to value teachers, and to view superintendents as thoughtful educators, not…

Twenty years after the Supreme Court's decision in "Abington v. Schempp," the public still needs help to understand the proper relationship between religion and public education. The "Schempp" case suggests guidelines; for example, certified school personnel should make decisions about the study of religion and such study should be objective. (PB)

Methods to reduce layoffs, encourage natural staff turnover, and quell fear and frustration are unpaid leaves of absence, job sharing, early retirement bonus programs, and aggressive teacher evaluation. Where layoffs have been unavoidable, some school districts have devised placement services. Districts must avoid using layoffs to create turnover.…

This rendering of a principal's address to his teaching staff at the start of a new school year takes a satirical swipe at those administrators who would solve students' disciplinary problems by increasing teachers' duties. (PB)

The Supreme Court's decision in "Mueller v. Allen" raises important constitutional questions about state financial support for the promotion of religion. The case also raises the issue of whether this nation can provide adequate financial support for public schools while simultaneously diverting tax resources to the nonpublic schools. (PB)