This paper presents a research summary on ability grouping and tracking, and makes recommendations to school practitioners on successful alternative strategies to educate children from diverse backgrounds. The research reveals little evidence that ability grouping improves academic achievement, while overwhelming evidence exists that it retards…

Issues concerning excellence in education and the 1985 strike at Yale University are considered in 27 conference papers. Topics include: a faculty and chancellor's perspectives on achieving excellence, employment discrimination, collective bargaining in community colleges, retirement issues, and campus bargaining and the law. Titles and authors…

This report is the sixth on future trends in early care and education undertaken by the Massachusetts Early Childhood Advisory Council since its inception in 1985. The report sets out a plan for a system of early care and education and family support in the state, fulfilling a requirement of the enabling legislation of the Community Partnerships…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

The paper examines parent involvement in the governance of schools. Five structures that incorporate elected parent representatives in consultative and decision-making committees established by law are discussed: (1) School Improvement Councils (Massachusetts); (2) Boards of Governors (England and Wales); (3) Counseils d'etablissement (France);…

A methodological approach to tenure planning is illustrated in this study that examines the tenure characteristics of a research-oriented institution vis-a-vis other research universities and its own intramural schools and departments. Cross-sectional comparisons and time series projections are made to indicate the relative tenure position of an…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

The Massachusetts Public School Improvement Act of 1985 charges the Board of Education's Early Childhood Advisory Council with conducting a comprehensive study of future trends in early childhood programs and reporting the findings to the Board of Education annually. This second report provides information in the following areas: (1) national…

This case study of the battle over public school education in Lowell (Massachusetts) chronicles the process of change taking place there, partly as a result of the emerging role of Southeast Asian parents who, in coalition with Latino parents, are demanding educational access and equity for their children. The following sections are included: (1)…

This study investigated how adult education teachers changed after participating in one of three different models of professional development (multisession workshop, mentor teacher group, or practitioner research group), all on the same topic of learner persistence. The study also investigated the most important individual, professional…

Team members of Project DEEP (Documenting Effective Educational Practice) spent almost two years immersing themselves in the daily work of twenty campuses. The common denominator of these institutions is that they all have participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and have scored better than predicted across some or all of…

This manual, which presents the principles and steps involved in the two-year Citizen Involvement for Day Care Quality Project in Massachusetts, serves as a guide for developing a citizen network to address the need for quality day care. The Project was housed by the Office for Children (OFC), the state agency which licenses and monitors all day…

This report examines the efficacy of the Boston Pilot Schools, a model of urban schools created in 1994 to promote innovation and increased choice options within the Boston Public Schools (BPS). Unlike most urban public schools, the Boston Pilot Schools have control over budget, staffing, curriculum, governance, and time, all critical conditions…

The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) Professional Development Study investigated how adult education teachers changed after participating in one of three different models of professional development (multisession workshop, mentor teacher group, or practitioner research group), all on the same topic of learner…

This paper looks at the successful initiatives and unforeseen problems that have arisen in Massachusetts public education since the passage of the Public School Improvement Act of 1985, with a focus on the needs of Hispanic Americans. There is overwhelming evidence that the specific needs of Hispanic Americans are neither being identified nor met…