School discipline and school safety are primary areas of concern for school administrators. This article summarizes the research literature regarding suspension in response to nonviolent and subjective offenses for racial/ethnic minorities. Steps that administrators can follow in applying a root cause analysis with a focus on school practices are…

For school administrators to facilitate impactful teacher professional development, a shift in thinking that goes beyond the acquisition of new skills and knowledge to helping teachers rethink their practice is required. Based on review of the professional development literature and our own continued observations of professional development, this…

Early adolescence is a period of rapid physical and emotional change. Suggestions are offered that will make education for the early adolescent easier on everyone. (Author/MLF)

Today is an opportune time for school administrators to exercise leadership in curriculum development for school achievement. Effective schools research has found a school's culture and its strategies and tactics to be foundational to an excellent school. These are explored in this article. (DCS)

A survey of curricular history reveals that alternate preoccupation with academic and student-centered goals are insufficient independently; an integration of the two would strengthen and affirm each. The author uses the ideas of John Dewey to provide a methodology and rationale for the integration of the two areas. (Author/MD)

Second- and third-wave organizational development models fail to facilitate long-term school improvement or enhance individual growth and personal competency. The fourth-wave models focus entirely on individual growth as the primary source of overall organizational success, relying on team consultation, collegiality, and cooperative learning for…

Physical measures such as weapons checks and metal detectors are inadequate to forestall school violence. The key to managing crises is a trained, broad-based crisis-intervention team and a crisis-management plan. Team responsibilities include developing an intervention plan, coordinating with community services, educating and training staff, and…

Compares definitions and core elements of learning organizations promulgated by Peter Senge, Victoria Marsick and Karen Watkins, Nancy Dixon, Michael Marquardt, Mike Pedler, and others. Discusses leadership implications and the need for employees to create a new learning infrastructure incorporating new leaders, critical thinking, and envisioning.…

Discusses problems in evaluating artistic ability, changing views on the appropriate content and methods for art education, and new research that reveals relationships between artistic and other intellectual abilities; briefly notes several studies on art programs for the gifted and talented. (MCG)

Common threads running through the social studies curriculum reform recommendations include the following: (1) the study of democratic beliefs; (2) student civic participation; (3) the study of modern issues that call for global interactive connections; and (4) restructuring survey courses to avoid repetition and add depth. (MLF)

After presenting a rationale for inservice education, the author reviews some fundamental research in the subject and offers suggestions for an effective program. (Author/JM)

A step-by-step process for changing curriculum, based on research by both the Ford and Danforth Foundations, stresses that administrators and teachers must work together to bring about meaningful change. (Author/MLF)

Examines trends in curriculum planning and development in Great Britain, Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Nations. Argues for cooperative curriculum planning and development with shared authority focusing on the global community. (12 references) (MLF)

Science/Technology/Society (STS) education can become an integral part of the existing social studies curriculum. Explains ways to introduce STS into the curriculum and offers suggestions for administrative support. (MLF)

Most principals spend too much time checking daily lesson plans and too little time helping teachers make yearly and unit plans. Yearly planning is important because it addresses curricular priorities and time allocations, curriculum integration, learning sequence, depth of inquiry, and instructional materials. Step-by-step supervisory procedures…