Background/Context: In this article, we explore school connectedness for students in a high-poverty urban school. Current approaches to measuring connection conflate behavior and attitudinal measures of connection and rarely explore school connection in urban school settings. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: We examine…

Background/Context: Studies carried out over the last two decades have established structured after-school programs as significant contexts for adolescent development. Recent large-scale evaluations of after-school initiatives have yielded mixed results, finding some impact on adolescents' attitudes toward school but limited impact on their…

A secondary analysis of the Rand Change Agent Study describes four broad factors underlying the understanding of staff development: institutional motivation, implementation strategies, institutional leadership, and teacher characteristics. These factors are used to suggest specific staff development activities. (JMF)

This article discusses the implementation of classroom organization projects examined by the Rand Corporation's Change-Agent Study. (RC)

This article discusses the experience of the federal government's large-scale attempt to improve the education of the disadvantaged through Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The discussion concentrates on the dilemma of making policy concerning implementation. (RC)

Teacher evaluation can be used as a tool in school improvement. Principal inconstancy, insufficient time and resources, and lack of evaluating skills are some difficulties in teacher evalution. The use of evaluation as a means of professional development is discussed. (DF)