Neoliberal discourse dominated education policy for decades and fueled reform movements with lasting effects. Through a critical lens this qualitative case study explored policy direction, the influences that shaped multiple years of reform initiatives and the impact of these changes in one Canadian province. Data sources including policy…

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is required to submit this report to the Legislature regarding the status of existing charter schools, the number of petitions for new charter schools, and the action taken by school boards and DPI on petitions for new charter schools (see Wis. Stat. §115.28 (49)). This report offers the results…

Civic and character education are both essential pillars that support the mission of public schools. Utah teachers and schools take this responsibility very seriously, and work diligently and creatively to provide content and pedagogy that supports effective civic and character education. This report is provided to the Utah State Legislature to…

Merit pay plans for administrators do not work in school systems in which the governing board is elected from among lay people. In 1979, the Brewster (New York) Central School District developed an administrator merit pay plan. The goal of the plan was to implement changes and programs which would reflect the needs of the community as interpreted…

The findings from part 1 of the seventh annual American School Board Journal survey of school board members are reported. Board members listed their 14 most pressing concerns, with lack of financial support foremost; other concerns are listed by region, in order of the percentage who expressed each concern. (TE)

A survey asked a national random sample of 1,500 school board presidents and the executives of all 1,300 local chambers of commerce for their opinions on charter schools, privatization, and vouchers. Board presidents are likely to support the traditional education establishment. Chamber executives tend to support free-market initiatives for…

A total of 942 (59 percent of the national sample) school board members, administrators, and teachers responded to a merit pay opinion survey. Factor analysis revealed six factors; as hypothesized, school board members tended to be in greater agreement with the issues than either administrators or teachers. (MLF)

Presents findings from the 18th annual survey of school board members on the topic of their attitudes toward alternative education programs for students. Alternatives to traditional schooling exist for troubled students within the broad public school structure, and almost 9 out of 10 board members say such specialized services should be provided.…

The key to an employee-supported evaluation system is involving a significant majority of those affected in the planning process. This article describes the development of a new evaluation system for 200 administrators and supervisiors based on attitude surveys and a large administrator-dominated steering committee. (MLH)

A 52-item survey sent to 2,197 school board presidents was responded to by 1,217 (55 percent) of the executives. The results suggest that the longer they serve on school boards, the more inclined the presidents are to follow their superintendents' lead and the less inclined they are to support school reform. (MLF)

From a random sample of 6,102 school executives, 1,115 (18 percent) answered questions about their attitudes toward hiring relatives and receiving gifts and services from vendors. Tables illustrate data by principals at school level, and by superintendents. Demographic information about respondents is provided. (MLF)

Defining the role of the school district's attorney and selecting the proper individual to fill that role are the two major topics of this booklet. The first chapter, by Edgar H. Bittle, reviews the district counsel's range of responsibilities. Chapter 2, by Ralph D. Stern, focuses on the attorney's role in policy matters. In the third chapter,…

This study examines the perceptions of 113 school board members, 119 principals, and 2,028 teachers from 9 states (Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming) regarding the preparation of teachers and the availability of professional services as well as education resources. The study also…

A 3-year study of decentralization of Alaska schools identified several factors that influenced whether a school was locally controlled and found patterns of control associated in important ways with staff and community attitudes toward school. Information was gathered by surveys and interviews conducted in 28 communities randomly selected to…

Recent research has suggested that the principal's role in the effectiveness of schools is far more important than had been believed earlier. What the principal's role typically is, what it ideally should be, and how it can be changed are the topics of this report. The first two chapters survey (1) the research on characteristics of principals of…