A significant body of research, including several large-scale correlational studies, indicates that effective teachers of the basic skills differ systematically from those who are ineffective. Eight teacher characteristics are associated with success in producing achievement gains, including expectations, classroom management, curriculum pacing,…

Argues for the establishment of a national databank for the management, collection, and analysis of information about capital provision policies for public schools at the federal, state, and local levels. (MLF)

In this brief, the authors examine the creation, evolution, and expansion of Philadelphia's diverse provider model through the lens of this theory of change; they show that the beliefs and assumptions underlying the diverse provider model have been amended over time; and they illustrate how district and provider leaders have reshaped the model in…

Describes the results of a study of three programs successfully teaching basic skills. Characteristics of successful schools include careful alignment of curriculum and instruction and grade-level instructional planning. (Author/JM)

Criticizes current research for equating declining urban school enrollments with White flight. Describes a study conducted in Louisville (Jefferson County), Kentucky, in which birth rate decline and ongoing out-migration variables were considered. Shows that many White families, rather than leaving the community, actually transferred their…

This document reports on the qualities of a good urban teacher as perceived by urban early childhood and elementary school teachers in 1988. A review of the educational literature indicates that the characteristics of good teaching reflected the time period in which the teachers lived and were prepared. This study focused on preschool, substitute,…

Discusses a study estimating the instructional, administrative, and per-pupil costs of implementing school-based support teams in special education programs in three New York City districts. Draws on the results to describe the problems of defining and estimating special education costs in urban schools, and of interpreting cost-related…

A member of the research team that reported characteristics of unusually effective London (England) high schools discusses how educators can use the findings to improve their own schools. (Author/MLF)

Argues that school and community order and safety are inextricably bound together, and, therefore, an analysis of the epidemic of school crime and violence should include community factors. Presents data from elementary schools in Chicago (Illinois) as an example of this connectedness, and suggests public policy to improve school conditions. (JS)

Explores the findings from a two-year participant observation study of educational reform in an inner-city setting. The author deconstructs a major sociological/educational assumption instantiated in the reforms and attempts to delineate an alternative theoretical framework for understanding educational reform failure in inner-city situations. (GR)

As public institutions, community colleges are dependent for their survival and continuity upon favorable evaluations by the external constituencies that finance the colleges. Underscoring the resource-dependent nature of community colleges are the revenue limitations brought about by declining enrollments, the effects of high costs, and taxpayer…

Provides selected data from a case study of a predominantly Black community college in a large northeastern city. Looks at students' fathers' occupations by race and sex and provides quotations from interviews with Black students regarding ghetto life and their educational objectives and expectations. Discusses implications. (WL)

This paper reports and interprets the major findings of a study of 54 inner city private elementary schools in eight cities. The study, conducted during the 1978-79 school year by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, explores the schools' academic achievements; their growing appeal to low-income, minority families; the racial,…

Presents the results of a study of grading strategies that suggests that reluctant students can improve their work and develop a better attitude about school if less emphasis is placed on evaluative grading. (JC)

Evidence from 10 cities indicates that large city school systems' difficulty in closing schools stems from administrators' value conflicts between responsiveness to the community and efficiency, and from competing role interests between board members and administrators. (MJL)