Equal status within the contact situation, shared goals, cooperate dependence in reaching these goals, and the support of authorities, law or custom are the criteria which Allport (1954) argued were vital for promoting positive interracial attitudes and behavior. The study reported here investigates the development of interracial interaction…

For the past decade, the federal government has supported comprehensive school reform as a way to improve under-performing schools (US Department of Education 1998). Thousands of schools across the country are now implementing scores of different whole school reform models with the hopes of improving school culture and raising student performance.…

This symposium on transfer of learning consists of four presentations. "The Influence of the Implementation of a Transfer Management Intervention on Transfer of Training" (Patricia R. Saylor, Marijke T. Kehrhahn) reports a study that evaluated effectiveness of transfer management interventions provided by a change facilitator in…

This paper examines the issues that emerged in the first six months of a collaborative program initiated by the Massachusetts State Department of Education for simultaneously developing or improving middle school teacher preparation programs and restructuring middle schools. The literature on interorganizational collaboration provides a framework…

This study analyzed new forms of student social interaction and dialogue within asynchronous communications of six middle schools and six high schools participating in the World Forum. In the World Forum, students discussed, questioned, and debated with Arctic explorers, researchers, World Forum mentors, and peers about environmental issues. One…

The Computer Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ) is a Likert-type self-report instrument with paired-comparison items added to provide supplemental information. The CAQ is intended for use in the middle school environment, grades six to eight. A 1993 preliminary validation study indicated the instrument's stable measurement qualities and probable…

This study examined whether the incidence of classroom behavior problems of students with behavior disorders were reduced in collaborative/cooperative classes when compared with traditional special education classes. Subjects were 15 students in grades 6 through 8 who spent half their class day in a collaborative/cooperative classroom and the…

This paper explores the concept of combining collaborative action research, used in examining teacher behaviors, with group dynamics, used to facilitate new ideas and increase motivation. Specifically, the study examines the effort by one team of middle school teachers to conduct teacher team collaborative research. After reviewing the literature…

This paper explores questions about the ways in which students, teachers, administrators, and parents negotiate new sets of roles and expectations for schooling in the innovative climate of a new middle school. A new school in an Australian city has implemented a coordinated package of approaches including integrated curriculum, portfolio…

During the 1980s, considerable attention was given to the influence of "effective" elementary schools on students' school achievement. Effective schools were typically defined as those with certain characteristics that had been found to be positively correlated with student achievement scores. This paper presents findings of a longitudinal study…

Evaluations should be an important component in every model and exchange of the consultation process. Consultation literature includes considerable information on the importance of the inclusion of evaluation at the completion of consultation exchanges, but little emphasis is placed on evaluation and its meaning. Objectives of the study were to:…

This case study describes a 2-year (1988-90) demonstration dropout prevention program, a collaboration between a rural school and a university. The dropout prevention program attempts to identify effective teaching strategies that will increase the academic successes of at-risk sixth-grade students and expand the use of those strategies among the…

School culture has recently emerged as a framework for the study and interpretation of the structure and development of schools. This paper reviews a work culture productivity model and reports the development of a culture instrument. The School Work Culture Profile (SWCP) is a staff perceptions instrument on which school work culture is…

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of four urban schools that sought to develop professional community as part of a restructuring process. The study focuses on how restructuring affected teachers' work over a 3-year period. It reports that the absence of structural conditions can impede the growth of professional community; however, their…

This study was conducted to determine how reform at the middle school level translates into classroom practice within the framework of innovation and decision-making. A set of field notes was developed through formal and informal interviews with the building principal and two interdisciplinary teams of teachers (N=11) who had moved away from…