A comparative analysis of 10 primary and 10 secondary schools found relationships between school policy toward children with learning problems (either encouraging mainstreaming or separate classes) and other aspects of school functioning, including educational philosophy, approach to handicap identification, and degree of communication between the…

A 1977 study examined the organization of six medical schools' basic sciences, including faculty research interests and department affiliations, and was updated with 1987 data from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Results show overlapping research interests, blurred departmental boundaries, and divergence between faculty research…

Discusses the use of goal theory to guide schoolwide change, focusing on the results of a three-year project designed to introduce task-focused learning at an elementary and middle school. Based on classroom observations, interviews, and questionnaires, the study identified various impediments to school change related to teacher and administrator…

Although the effort to restructure the American high school is in high gear, little attention has been directed to how changes in high schools' organizational structures might affect the dynamic of equity in student learning--the ways that schooling outcomes reflect students' social background. This paper aims to identify organizational properties…

The call to restructure American education has captured the imagination of reformers across the country, yet it has not produced a coherent agenda for changing schools. This study investigates how the structure of secondary schools affects learning. Using a sample of 9,631 students in 789 U.S. high schools with 3 waves of data from the National…

Despite contemporary efforts to develop lists of department chair tasks and responsibilities, there is no historical foundation available for understanding the department chair position. This study was designed to identify the critical incidents and factors which impacted on the development of the department chair position in higher education from…

As a result of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act, a number of powers previously exercised at the central administration or board level have devolved upon the Local School Councils (LSCs) and principals. The cooperation of 14 representative schools was enlisted for an ongoing qualitative study of the dynamics of reform at the local level. To date,…

The third of four technical reports on Oregon education finance, this report summarizes views of 44 opinion leaders in Oregon (including public officials, business leaders, educators, and journalists) on questions of education goals, quality, cost, and methods of decision-making. Answering questionnaires, the respondents first addressed issues of…

Originally presented at a 1986 conference on student discipline strategies, this collection of papers represents highlights of the conference proceedings. Each paper has since been revised and updated. An introduction by Oliver C. Moles discusses the nature, extent, and academic effects of student misbehavior. In "Classroom Management Techniques,"…

This study uses data from a national survey of principals of public schools with a 7th grade to document and analyze the variation in the types of marks and evaluations included on report cards issued to young adolescents in the United States. The analyses examine the prevalence of report card entries of various types and the antecedents and…

A study involving 55 elementary schools and 18 secondary schools was undertaken to examine the relationships among teachers' perceptions of school organizational coupling structures, school environmental robustness, and three school effectiveness measures (school organizational effectiveness, school achievement, and average daily attendance). The…

Curriculum alignment (CA) refers to the congruence of all the elements of a school's curriculum: curriculum goals; instructional program--what is taught and the materials used; and tests used to judge outcomes. CA can be a very powerful can be a very powerful factor in improving schools. Although further research is needed on CA, there is…

The Institute for Research on Educational Finance and Governance (IFG) has designed and implemented a major survey of public and private schools in the six-county San Francisco Bay Area which focuses on organizational dimensions in elementary and secondary schools. Private schools include Catholic parochial and private schools, independent…

During the summer of 1983, a team from Mankato State University, Minnesota, surveyed 65 community residents, 85 school staff and board members, and 337 grade 6-12 students to measure attitudes toward the effectiveness of the pairing of the Russell and Tyler (Minnesota) school districts which occurred at the beginning of the 1981-82 school year.…

Two strategies employed by school administrators to obtain compliance in public schools are examined in terms of their concrete expression in school rules regarding student behavior. Two kinds of rules are specified: comparative rules, which juxtapose some student behavior with an organizational response in an exchange relationship; and definitive…