Included in this annotated bibliography of 11 publications on training and selecting principals are reports assessing various approaches and their relationship to school improvement. One article proposes a training model based on contingency theory. A sourcebook reviews hiring practice inadequacies and alternatives and recommends Hillsborough…

The typical route to certification for beginning foreign language teachers requires the candidate to complete an approved program of teacher education in a four-year institution, have a certain minimum grade point average, and have completed a specified number of foreign language credit hours. Notable trends in foreign language teacher…

Written for American Indian parents, this fact sheet offers basic suggestions for building good parent-school relationships and helping children succeed in school. The first issue addressed is the education of children before they start to school, and the emphasis is on developing pride, self-confidence, and a desire to learn and do new things.…

This K-12 handbook is designed for law and justice professionals who serve as resource persons and for classroom teachers working with resource persons. The book is arranged in four parts. The introduction provides an overview, explains the use of the handbook, presents background for the teacher on using community resources, and offers practical…

Presented are abstracts and abstractors' analyses of eight studies related to teacher education and two studies related to the nature of science. Analyses in the area of teacher education are on studies of: attitudes of elementary teachers in Trinidad and Tobago (P. Fraser-Abder and R. Shrigley); educators' categorizations of different models of…

The purpose of this book is to help teachers feel at ease with microcomputers so that they will begin to think of computers as tools that they themselves might use. There are four chapters. The first chapter provides basic information to help a user understand the computer. Discussed are how the computer is put together and how it works. To help…

To assess the effect of the efforts to encourage the selection of nontraditional occupations, Vetter examined the extent of change in enrollment patterns of girls and women in vocational education for the period 1972-82. In the traditionally male programs of agricultural, technical, and trade and industry education, the number and percentage of…

Directed primarily toward small school administrators and school boards, this publication describes a consortium of five rural school districts in central Missouri and how they used a traveling teacher to facilitate incorporation of microcomputer capabilities into the school systems' operation and curriculum. The paper describes the use of the…

To understand how to best motivate the Mexican American student, one must look not only to the factors considered relevant to achievement in mainstream Anglo American society, but also to specific problems faced by this minority group. Language barriers, cultural differences, economic background, and family attitudes combine to affect the…

This paper examines the politics of public school closings and suggests strategies for effective management of school closings by administrators. Issues which are covered include: (1) the effects of public school closings on students, teachers, parents, and the community; (2) the trend of declining enrollment; (3) management approaches to closings…

This monograph presents a digest and brief analysis of a 700-page congressional committee print entitled "Needs of Elementary and Secondary Education in the 1980's", issued in January, 1980, by the House Committee on Education and Labor. The major ideas of the 54 articles in the committee print are condensed, with additional attention given to the…

While the shortage of qualified administrators is not as serious as the shortage of qualified teachers, some schools continue to fail to attract qualified leaders. Referred to as "hard-to-staff" schools, they are often characterized by high-poverty students, low test scores, high staff turnover, and under qualified teachers. This ERIC…

This volume of essays responds to What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, a 1996 report of the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future (NCTAF). The report says that every child has the right to a caring, competent, and qualified teacher. As a result, politicians and educators strove to implement its recommendations in…

This digest summarizes the rights and responsibilities of parents of children in the special education process under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997. Among 12 rights listed are a free appropriate public education for every child, written notification for any proposed evaluations, re-evaluation or change in…

This issue describes how researchers are studying ways to reduce the overrepresentation of students from minority backgrounds in special education. It begins by discussing problems associated with inappropriate classification and placement of minority students, including being denied access to the general education curriculum, being placed in…