Outlines the roles of the following groups in creating and maintaining a quality school art program: superintendents and boards of education, principals, parent teacher organizations, state art supervisors, classroom teachers, local art supervisors, and certified art specialists. (SJL)

Examines two reform efforts that indicate promising strategies for changing and improving urban school district decision- and policy-making systems, particularly as those systems reflect the relationships among boards of education, school superintendents, and the school district bureaucracy. (Author/IRT)

Reports on the events leading to the court order placing control of the Cleveland (Ohio) school district in the hands of a court-appointed administrator. Discusses the desegregation plan and educational improvements that should be implemented. (SK)

This paper describes and analyzes the political and organizational effects of school consolidation in Arlington. Existing research on consolidation is criticized and new directions for inquiry are suggested. (Author/EB)

The common ground process is an ongoing effort for inviting, scrutinizing, debating, and selecting ideas or making decisions about improving schools. Superintendents should assign a full-time communications person to executive staff, create a communications team, conduct a full-scale communications audit, listen better, urge the silent majority to…

Delaware was a pioneer member of Project RE:LEARNING, designed to garner state policy makers' support for school reform. This article introduces three papers from various perspectives (school principal, policy analyst, and project coordinator) that target the political culture shaping school reform. Papers highlight mobilization difficulties…

The United Nations' Child Friendly Cities movement is committed to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. School boards can participate by augmenting a safe physical environment with a policy environment that treats children with respect; encouraging meaningful participation in school governance; recognizing and addressing the…

Describes challenges facing College Board's efforts to expand Advanced Placement (A.P.) courses to provide equal access to previously underserved low-performing urban and rural school students while maintaining the program's high academic standards. Includes list of strategies school boards can use to achieve greater access to A.P. courses while…

Describes cooperative ventures between the Vancouver public library system and the Vancouver School Board that have been developed to maximize service to students. Combined school-public libraries are discussed, tips for teachers working with public libraries are presented, and a sidebar contains the public library-school board Policy of Mutual…

School site management and teacher empowerment have raised concerns about their effect on collective negotiations. Examines in case law the issues of who is management and what managerial prerogatives the board retains. Points out that state legislatures can allow delegation of any area of responsibility by the local school board. (MLF)

An examination of the constitutionality of team prayer shows that pregame prayers violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, and their use can lead to liability problems for both coaches and school boards. Advises school boards to adopt policies specifically prohibiting team prayers. (MLF)

According to one survey, good elementary schools have a strong sense of purpose and are committed to teamwork and staff development. A school board can instigate major improvements by developing a clearly stated policy affirming district commitment to sound early childhood education practices. A sidebar summarizes five characteristics of good…

Analyzes the party politics of religious education within the London School Board in the 1890s. Concentrates on the parliamentary struggle between two London School Board members: Edward Stanley (Progressive Party) and Joseph Diggle (Conservative Party) over the role of religion in education. Includes reactions of the Australian public to the…

Effective schools research indicates that a good plan for school improvement grows out of the school and the school system in which it will be used. Outlines 11 components of a school system's improvement plan, and current educational trends to take into account in developing the plan. (MLF)

Rough Rock, Arizona, in the Navajo Reservation, is the first school to be run by a locally elected all-Indian school board and the first to incorporate systematic instruction in native language and culture. This demonstration program has led to changes in the community's social, economic, and political structures. Federal funding has both enabled…