In his era, John Dewey led those who sought to interpret, reform, and protect public education. With no leader of Dewey's stature now in sight, the author urges us to turn to Dewey's words and actions for guidance. (Author/JM)

Data suggest that using the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in addition to high school records for determining college admissions adds virtually no useful predictive information over selection based on high school records alone. (Author/JM)

In June of 1982 a Supreme Court decision held that Public Law 94-142 requires only that handicapped students be provided access to specialized instruction and related services designed to provide educational benefit. (Author/JM)

When making decisions about the education of immigrants, European countries must turn for models not to the circumstances of America's established minorities but to the experiences of America's early immigrants. (Author/JM)

The Greenfield Secondary Schools Project in Greenfield (Massachusetts) includes a planning and grant-writing system, a grantsperson, and a structure encouraging community involvement and interagency cooperation, and has enabled Greenfield to finance innovation in lean times. (Author/JM)

The high school attendance policy instituted in 1977-78 in Malden (Massachusetts) mandated a failing grade of E for the seventh unexcused absence per quarter in each subject. (Author/JM)

With positive leadership, the present period of austerity offers an opportunity for educational advance. Educational administrators need to develop dynamic organizations that are flexible and capable of monitoring their educational efforts. (Author/WD)

Reviews the controversy over the difference between using aptitude test scores or achievement test scores as a basis for selecting college entrants. Concludes that emphasizing the Scholastic Aptitude Test fails to reward students who work hard in secondary school. (WD)

Drawing on his research on the development of talent in young people, ages 17 to 35, in six different fields, the author examines the characteristics of master teachers of pianists and Olympic swimmers. (WD)

Presents a reader quiz on attitudes about school administration. Analyzes likely responses to the quiz and concludes that the assumption that schools are rational, bureaucratic organizations leads to rigidity and confusion because it does not accurately describe schools as they exist. Argues for pluralism in organizational views. (WD)

Schools are managed with the wrong organizational model in mind. They are unique and cannot be governed by conventional management theory. This article describes schools as loosely coupled systems and describes what school administrators should be doing to be effective in such a situation. (Author/WD)

For decades the principles of scientific management, borrowed from industry, have held sway in U.S. schools. Now these principles have been supplanted in the industrial workplace by new socio-technical theories. This article describes the new industrial management model and its implications for education. (Author/WD)

Describes the concept of quality circles: small, homogeneous groups of workers who discuss product improvement. The idea originated in Japan and has infiltrated U.S. industry and, ultimately, U.S. schools. Explains the quality circle program in the Muskegon (Michigan) schools and its effects in improving communication among employees and…

Authoritarian management systems, best suited to institutions that enjoy a relatively high degree of uniformity, are not appropriate for public education. In nine proposals the author urges a major realignment of the roles and relationships of a district's professional educators, to create a uniquely suitable educational management system.…

Argues that social scientists convey the impression of rational behavior by means of self-serving research techniques. Concludes that their artificially constructed order masks the disorder of everyday existence and that they should have tolerance for human frailties. (Author/WD)