Describes one statewide process of basal series selection and outlines the concerns of eight groups involved in the process. (FL)

Presents edited versions of plaintiff and defendant outlines of legal issues and proof (views of cases set to limit issues argued during trials) and trial briefs (comprehensive presentations of legal precedents and arguments) in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education case focusing on balanced treatment of creationism/evolution in public schools.…

Short-term problems caused by California's Proposition 13 are: maintenance of effort; federal supplemental funding; use of federal funds for excess costs; and matching and full service. Long-term implications include: rescuing the states; maintaining traditional federal policies; improving or revising federal aid; and encouraging improved state…

Suggests specific ways of bringing the academic study of religion into a secular curriculum. Presents general guidelines and procedures for administrators, in working with school boards, to design and implement the teaching of religion. Argues that state boards of education are instrumental in making the academic study of religion a vital part of…

Examines the challenges of providing educational leadership in rapidly changing rural school settings. Describes a leadership development model that stresses learning in action, examines the role and responsibilities of school boards related to educational leadership, and suggests that the Individual Education Plan process can be a model for…

Describes changes that must be made within and outside of the school district to achieve urban school improvement. Successful improvement must involve support from the local, state, and federal governments, parents, and local neighborhoods. Within the district, there must be changes at the district, building, and classroom levels. (SM)

Critiques views of the one-room country school experience in the Midwest states. Describes advances an alternative interpretation grounded in the social, political, and economic circumstances that impinged on local institutions, arguing that these schools may not have been the "laboratories of democracy" that conventional wisdom calls…

Describes the West Vancouver (British Columbia) School Board's goals related to the appropriate and effective use of information technology as both a school and a community resource. Highlights include social issues, learning issues, professional and personal competencies for teacher-librarians, integration of information delivery systems, and a…

This essay is the author's battle cry for help in revitalizing democracy. It deals with the institutions in which the future citizens are being educated. It deals with the undemocratic way in which schools are run. Given the time and space, the author would like to narrow the focus of his battle even further and argue for a revitalization of…

According to a June 1989 report by the Council of Chief State School Officers, 41 states have adopted model human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention programs and curricula for use in local school districts. Effective HIV/AIDS education takes a comprehensive approach that includes teacher…

There has been a gradual decline in Utah in language enrollments at the rate of about 4% in about 10 years. The rate of teachers assigned to teach foreign languages also shows a diminishing trend. The Utah Foreign Language Association has worked to improve instruction and increase the professional status of its members. Workshops have been…

Public control of the schools has steadily eroded in recent years. Population growth and widespread consolidation of school districts, depoliticization of school board elections, adoption of the business model of professional school management, development of a multilevel school bureaucracy, and unionization of teachers all have combined to…

School systems must comply with numerous federal and state requirements in filling positions. This article sets forth those requirements in four areas: (1) advertising positions; (2) interviewing candidates; (3) selecting a candidate; and (4) verifying a candidate's legal status. (MLF)

Argues that the Supreme Court's decision--upholding the constitutionality of disciplinary actions taken against a public high school student who delivered a speech laden with sexual metaphor (though not obscene language) in a nominating assembly--was improper in that it attempted to articulate a false dichotomy between "political…

Some underlying causes of interinstitutional rivalries are discussed concerning state support of graduate programs, often considered a measure of institutional quality, in state higher education systems. The roles played by state governing boards, administration, and faculty in these contests are also examined. (MSE)