Local districts can assess public opinion concerning the schools by adapting the questions asked and the data analysis methods used in national Gallup polls for use in local surveys. A comparison of national poll results with results of polls in four Arizona cities illustrates the value of this concept. (PGD)

The annual Gallup Poll reveals what the public thinks about national education issues, Should these results be used to set local policy? A North Dakota school district did its own local survey in 1986 and describes how it was done. Includes seven references. (Author/MD)

Reports the results of a survey of southeastern principals on their attitudes towards management. Compares the management technology of schools to that in private business. (Author/WD)

This essay by the president of the National Council on Foreign Language and International Studies cites figures revealing Americans' ignorance of foreign languages and basic facts concerning the rest of the world. A plan of action is outlined for schools. (MJL)

Current scientific and technologiical issues should be incorporated into more active classroom, laboratory, and extracurricular learning so that students can perceive the future as personally relevant. (MJL)

Administration of the Student Achievement Diagnostic Questionnaire for Administrators to 1,278 Georgia teachers verified the instrument's utility for measuring several factors affecting teacher motivation, including teachers' attitudes toward principals, toward the utility of improving performance, and toward the nature of and the possibility of…

School board members, superintendents, principals, and teachers in western New York identified both ideal and practical components for their districts' teacher evaluation systems. The strong disagreement of board members with principals concerning these components suggests a need for inservice training of board members and improved communications…

Everyone has different expectations of the principal, but there are successful techniques for principals to identify, clarify, and cope with them. (JM)

Examines the extent and nature of America's need to know whether the nation's educational outlook is improving, considers the contributions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the National Assessment of Educational Progress to the information effort, and proposes a more effective testing system to be administered by the Census Bureau. (PGD)

To realize NASSP's reform goals in "Breaking Ranks," educators must first personalize high schools. This means every student should have a personal adult advocate and a personal progress plan; teachers must teach to students' learning styles; and no school should be larger than 600 students. A 1996 national student survey underlines the…