To identify critical postimplementation events and school-related factors that affect the continuation of new classroom practices, qualitative data were collected in 14 elementary and secondary schools representing a mix of settings. Efforts to improve the schools' instructional programs in either basic skills, career education, or citizen…

A study examined the feasibility of the use of the Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene Theory to identify groups of teachers as motivation seekers. The theory distinguishes individuals by their personal needs, i.e., "hygiene needs," such as working conditions, salary, class size, supervision, policy, and benefits; and "motivation…

This document draws upon theory and research about early adolescence and about the effects of middle grades structures and practices on student outcomes. The purpose is to identify specific problem areas and promising innovations that should be considered by policymakers as they establish guidelines for the restructuring of education in the middle…

This paper analyzes data from the Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to provide a description of grouping, staffing, and scheduling practices that currently exist in elementary, middle, and high schools. The practices are found to follow a continuum from elementary through…

Research on school reform efforts and reform evaluation and the recognition that individual students are in constant transition and are members of multiple groups whose dynamics differ over the duration of schooling were examined. A conceptual framework for developing design and analysis strategies for investigating educational reform efforts is…

To analyze high school students' access to the forms and content of knowledge, the author used nonparticipant ethnographic research in four midwestern high schools to study how the pattern of knowledge control in the classroom varies in different administrative contexts. Through observation of social studies classrooms and interviews with…

North York defines Special Needs Schools as those in communities characterized by a higher than average percentage of: children under 15 years of age, one parent families, women in the labor force, people whose mother tongue is not English, multiple family housing, or family mobility. During the fall of 1982 the Special Needs Evaluation Committee…

This paper attempts to develop a conceptual framework for describing the school as an organization. In the first chapter, after a review of organizational theory and research on the school, it is concluded that the school organization as a whole can be described in terms of bureaucracy and professionalism. In the second chapter, two basic…

Using participant observation, interviews, and other ethnographic methods, the author examined organizational structures and administrative processes and behavior in an innovative senior high school located in a large urban area and known for its implementation of individually guided education. Data analysis yielded theories grounded in the…

The results of a study of five midwestern school districts suggest that the abandonment of program innovations or revisions may be related to a lack of understanding of how schools work as social systems and how political processes influence change efforts, as well as a failure to appreciate the many dilemmas facing those who attempt to facilitate…

Growth of administrative components in 43 K-12 public school districts in the Saint Louis metropolitan area is reported for 1968-76. Increases in absolute numbers and ratios of administrators to teachers occurred in school districts with increasing as well as declining enrollments. Statistical analysis of public records and interviews with…

In a study of the effects of school structure on heterosexual behavior, self-report data on heterosexual behavior were collected from more than 2,000 sixth through tenth graders in 1978 when their district had a 6-3-3 school structure and in 1979 after the district had changed to a 6-2-2-2 structure. The district was located in a medium-size,…

This extensive assessment project report focuses on the Rural Secondary Schools (RSS) Project in Thailand. The background, design, rationale and objectives of the assessment are described, as are the eight phases of the study: reconnaissance; proposals; basic planning and pre-testing; data collection; analysis; academic review; final report; and…

This final report discusses a project designed to study increased use of the 16 vocational-technical (VT) schools in Connecticut to serve more individuals of high school age; compare advantages and disadvantages of feasible alternatives; and recommend viable approaches for increasing facility use for serving more individuals. Chapter I outlines…

Social Building is a program at UCLA that entails management approaches to the design of facilities and urban settings. This report is the result of a study team closely examining four high schools in Los Angeles. The subject of this study is an examination of the relationship between the setting in which schooling is undertaken and education.…