Peer mediation is one of hundreds of programs schools are using to enhance security or prevent violence. The Winning Against Violent Environments (WAVE) conflict-resolution program in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the oldest in the country. Lists seven sources of information. (MLF)

Growing out of Northern Ireland's 1980s Peace Education Project (aimed at breaking down Protestant/Catholic barriers), the Education for Mutual Understanding initiative focuses first on helping schoolchildren deal with everyday conflicts in their lives. EMU uses conflict resolution and peer mediation to help schools organize into learning…

Describes a student mediator program developed in elementary schools in San Francisco and New York City that successfully trains students to mediate conflict resolutions between students. A key to developing such programs is to educate the students in how the system works before getting into the process. Includes a resource list. (MD)

School districts in Dallas, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, successfully encouraged corporations to play an active part in education by adopting schools. The characteristics and benefits of the two programs are briefly described, and some steps to ensure smooth cooperation between school and business personnel are suggested. (PGD)

A superintendent's personal account of a teacher strike reveals the lessons learned from the conflict and offers suggestions for avoiding similar situations. (WD)

An elementary school in a densely populated district with a heavy concentration of poor, minority, and immigrant students was scheduled for demolition because of highway construction. Kenneth L. Moffett, superintendent, took on a bureaucratic Goliath and secured a new school underground that is secure and beautiful. The school board named the…

Examines the problems inherent in working with citizen advisory committees and offers advice to boards and administrators on meeting or preventing conflict with these groups. (WD)

A La Crosse (Wisconsin) board member describes the long and difficult manner in which the school board rose from the conflict of having a major board recall, eight new superintendents in four years, and serious personnel problems to reach a position in which the board and school became effective again. (MD)

Offers suggestions for school boards to follow to help keep divisiveness from hampering the board's effectiveness. These include reorganizing the board structure, using ad hoc committees to avoid board conflict, and having an impartial chairman with good leadership abilities. (MD)

An urban New Jersey district changed its high-school suspension policy, giving chronically tardy students administrative detention. Suspensions have been halved, and more students are graduating. Other successful programs include peer mediation and an alternative-education/tutoring program for disaffected middle-schoolers. (MLH)

To survive a contentious, dysfunctional environment, interested school board members in a Pennsylvania community captured support from district leaders. A steering committee composed of the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and board president was formed. Establishing rules for brainstorming sessions and developing a "leadership…