The frequent turnover of school board members in the US represents a concern for many educational practitioners who worry about the discontinuity of leadership, leading to negative impacts on students and staff. School board member turnover is also a key variable in studies of democratic theories of public school governance. Using descriptive and…

This study examined superintendents' perceptions of current performance evaluation practices and their preferences for those practices. Specifically, 1,125 superintendents across the nation received a questionnaire exploring evaluation effectiveness and results-based procedures. Findings indicate practices are neither uniformly effective nor…

If the notion of public and private spheres seems somehow quaint or old-fashioned, the distinction between public and private corporations will be that much more obscure. Yet Channel One broadcasts in a public school classroom are indisputably the result of a contract between a private corporation (Alloy Media + Marketing) and a public corporation…

The paper discusses the process whereby a system of teacher evaluation was established in Chile through a lengthy and complicated process of negotiations between the three main institutions concerned: the Teachers' Union, the Association of Chilean Municipalities (managers of the public school system) and the Ministry of Education. The process is…

The article reviews existing research on cyber-bullying, framed through a policy lens. It is clear that public policy issues for cyber-bullying involve tensions between the values of freedom of speech, the best interests of the child, and parental and school protective authority over the child. Given the complexity of the problem, as well as…

Many view the problem of violence as not merely a school problem, but as a much larger community problem that is finding its way into the schools. As a society, in addition to teaching our children how to be violent, we are giving them the tools of violence. There are steps that school board members can take to establish and maintain control of…

The 1982 school board elections in the geographical and political Ottawa-Carleton (Ontario) regions gave rise to a record number of new candidates for election to the two public and two separate school boards that comprise the region. This paper examines some of the reasons for the dramatic increase and develops a profile of their characteristics.…

In North Olmsted City Schools, Ohio, teacher evaluation is a continuous, cooperative, constructive process involving both the evaluator and the teachers. One set of performance variables evaluated relates to professional climate: (1) classroom management; (2) pupil-teacher relationships; (3) pupil-pupil relationships; (4) teacher-parent…

A vigorous, well-financed lobbying drive organized by supporters of higher education managed to cajole the Texas Legislature and the Governor to award large increases in state support. At the same time laws to stop the growth of some institutions, to raise academic standards, and overhaul teacher education were adopted. (MLW)

Interviews reveal that home schooling is both a pedagogical decision and a public declaration of the importance of the family. Parents' socialization into home schooling is defined by the political and legal climate of their state and school district. Restrictions of home schooling will not solve the parents' dissatisfaction with traditional…

Calls on school administrators to protect education from further damage from federal legislation by being in closer touch with federal policymaking. Describes a Congressional shift away from instructional issues toward issues affecting noninstructional operations and a corresponding shift in lobbying effectiveness from a Washington-based emphasis…

A questionnaire completed by 138 principals indicated that fund-raising by pupils was extensive and was endorsed by parents, principals, and community organizations. The Toronto Board of Education subsequently adopted guidelines to ensure pupil safety in fund-raising outside school and to enhance the benefits of fund-raising, e.g., sharing,…

Presents impressions of the first two years' impact of the block grant provisions of Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act on nine public schools districts and four private schools in Michigan. Briefly discusses Chapter 2's effects on intergovernmental relationships and major state actions and decisions. (PGD)

Explains Connecticut's Teacher Negotiation Act (October 1979), designed to bring about negotiated contract settlements resolving board/teacher impasses and thereby avoid strikes. Responses to the author's questionnaire of Connecticut board members, district administrators, and teachers reveal broad recognition of the law's effectiveness but doubt…

Detractors of Connecticut's Teacher Negotiation Act, who represent board members and teachers, claim the law currently takes away too much negotiating power from their respective groups. (JBM)