Mobilizing communities to support educational improvements is one of the challenges confronting educators in the Freely Associated States (FAS), which consists of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. This booklet aims to establish a consensus on broad educational goals and to rebuild…

This paper looks at how well school library media programs are realizing the mission, objectives, and challenges set by "Information Power," the national guidelines created by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT). Teacher-librarians are struggling to…

Research studies that have focused on identifying the characteristics or correlates of elementary and secondary schools that are unusually effective are reviewed, concentrating on the "effective schools" movement. Research on effective schools supports the conclusion that they rank high on certain characteristics frequently referred to as…

In this practical guide to service learning, 21 contributors describe specific service-learning projects that have enhanced the curriculum in schools across the United States and that have improved student learning in the process. In the Foreword, U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley, encourages schools to incorporate service learning…

This paper considers the question of faculty as "community." The study examined community-building efforts at one institution, which had been initiated in response to negative outside judgment about faculty effectiveness and that threatened the continued existence of the teacher preparation program. A "community committee" survey asked 32 faculty…

A study examined factors related to effectiveness of rural Title I schoolwide programs by comparing two more-effective and two less-effective rural elementary schools--one in each of four Virginia districts. Effectiveness was determined by student achievement levels on standardized tests in comparison to the scores expected based on social and…

This study investigated how teachers described current decision making structures, culture, and the power/micropolitics of their work, examining how they used their agency to accomplish work and make decisions together under Florida's reform. Data came from interviews with 1996 and 1997 elementary educators selected as teachers of the year. The…

The Promise for Illinois is the statewide strategic plan for the Illinois Community College System (ICCS). It promotes the provision of programs, services, and events that encourage diversity and foster knowledge of other cultures. Efforts and strategies to increase participation and achievement among minorities, women, and individuals with…

This report describes a study of the effects of environmental complexity on managers of semipublic organizations, in particular, school principals. Although some previous empirical studies do estimate relationships between principals' management activities and individual elements of schools' immediate organizational contexts, researchers have yet…

This paper reports on a study to determine if teacher self-efficacy in site-based managed schools differed from teacher self-efficacy in schools that were not site-based managed. The study also examined whether there was a relationship between self-efficacy in site-based managed schools and schools that were not site-based managed in regards to…

Project REAL (Rural Education Aligned for Learning) aims to improve mathematics and science education in grades 5-8 in five rural Ohio school districts identified as in "academic emergency" or on "academic watch." Program goals are to reform curricula to teach skills and concepts, rather than facts; improve students' math and…

Presents the results of a survey concerning parents' satisfaction with their schools and specific areas that needed improvement. Responses among inner-city blacks and whites were very similar with both groups giving priority to better teachers, more security, and better buildings. Includes statistical and tabular data analyzing the responses (MJP)

This article presents the traditional view of schooling as a barrier to reform; it explicates the learner-centered vision of schooling as an alternative, identifies the underpinnings of the learner-centered approach to schooling, and explores how this vision of schools as learner-centered environments might be enacted. (SM)

Examines role of schools and peer group culture in constructing male and female identity among adolescents in the context of gender violence. Discusses a United Kingdom Department for International Development funded study of abuse of girls in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Ghana. Reveals contemplative sexual socialization processes in which male violence…

Presents an interview with Dr. John H. Lounsbury, Dean Emeritus at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, and publications editor for the National Middle School Association. Issues discussed include changes in young adolescents' education; the influence of societal changes, educational reform, and technological development in the…