School districts can improve their chances of avoiding financial difficulty by developing unreserved fund balance resources specifically for contingencies. Offers guidelines for establishing such a fund. (MLF)

Traces development since the 1950s of the tuition agreement approach, in which Canadian provincial school boards negotiate costs and conditions of First Nations schooling with (initially) the federal Indian agency or (now) First Nations bands themselves. Recommends strategies supporting Native control of tuition negotiations as a means of…

Describes the Superintendent's Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), which was created by 43 district superintendents in San Diego County, California. STAC pools resources to promote and provide equity, assuring access to new technology for all students in San Diego County. STAC's accomplishments and lessons learned are listed. (RE)

Since 5-year-olds are in the "preoperational" stage of development, they think differently from older children and adults. This means teachers should be encouraged to interact differently with younger kids. The importance of creating developmentally appropriate programs stressing playing and talking is discussed. (MLH)

As part of a statewide pilot program, Florida schools are implementing instructional delivery systems to mainstream more students with disabilities and develop more special/general educator partnerships. Effective coteaching models have common planning time, flexibility, risk-taking, defined roles and responsibilities, compatibility, communication…

Describes School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 findings about state- and district-level school health services policies and practices regarding: organization, staffing, and facilities; required services; school based health clinics and other sites; immunizations; screening; medication administration; HIV; student health records; special…

For decades, the instructional field trip has been viewed as a strategy to enhance students' learning experiences. Yet what happens when an award-winning teacher is accused of choking a student while on a field trip? Tempers flare among community members, parents contact the police, and the principal is assigned the daunting task of investigating…

The Sunnyside Independent School District Board of Education selected Dr. Juan Martinez (pseudonym) as its new superintendent of schools by an unusually cohesive 7-0 vote in 2002. In describing the superintendent search, the local paper characterized the board as highly politicized and often divisive. So the board's unanimity in appointing Juan to…

Considers the legal meaning of the "right to receive" in light of the many cases where reading material has been censored by being removed from public school libraries. (NKA)

Responses of 259 school districts to a questionnaire about special education substitute teachers indicated that regional differences affected policies regarding degree and certification, consideration for full-time employment, and pay; while evaluation, training, selection, removal, and fringe benefit practices were consistent across the nation.…

Study examines whether male and female teachers differ in (1) their background or training for instructional uses of microcomputers and (2) their uses of microcomputers to teach mathematics and science. Data are given on district and school microcomputer policies, classroom contexts, and teacher characteristics, instructional decisions, and…

Reports results of a study to determine status of education in Iowa seven years after the onset of collective bargaining. Compares opinions of boards of education, administrators, and teachers regarding job satisfaction, public opinion, working conditions, teacher/superintendent/board relations, board power, salaries, instruction, teacher input,…

Addressing the underlying tension that generally exists between school-level autonomy and systemwide uniformity, the author's nine commandments include recognizing the school as the key organizational unit in public education, selecting and nurturing first-rate principals, and granting more budgetary authority to the school level. (JBM)

A unique choice to assume local control of schooling is now available to Canadian Indians. This description of the beginning of one such undertaking illustrates how the unanticipated emergence of pervasive role shock inhibits the expected positive results from autonomous local control of schooling. (Author)

This article describes the methodological challenges and processes involved in designing and conducting the School Health Policies and Programs Study. Information is provided on questionnaire development, sampling, data collection, and weighting and variance estimation. (SM)