This evaluation of the 1989-90 Home-School-Community Agent (HSCA) Project in Columbus (Ohio) found mixed success. The role of the HSCA was to help disruptive pupils make positive adjustments to those elements in their lives that interfered with their success in school. Nineteen HSCAs were each assigned 60 "disruptive" students drawn from…

This publication contains two reports describing the development and beginning evaluations of two separate programs of the Baltimore (Maryland) School and Family Connections Project designed to increase parents' involvement in their children's learning in urban middle grades schools. The first report, "Reactions of Parents, Students, and…

Drawing on the experience of public schools in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this document details a planning model and process of middle level reorganization. Following an examination of the impetus for change and how recent changes in the nation's economy, demographics, and family structure have shaped the context for educational change, collaborative…

This study investigates how informed New York State middle school teachers (N=190) in public schools are about school law and case law which impacts on them in their professional roles. The study focuses on four areas: teacher rights and responsibilities, student rights, instruction, and health and safety. In addition to assessing subjects'…

In July 1986, the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools began a 3-year study of the use of evaluative data in instructional planning and decision making in schools. This report summarizes the second year of the investigation, in which case studies of evaluative data use were conducted in one elementary school (kindergarten through grade 5) and one…

The Mathematics Improvement Component (MIC) was implemented in the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools to improve the skills and achievement levels of pupils who were low achievers in mathematics. Three programs comprised MIC: the Elementary Program, the Middle School Program, and the Middle School Pilot Program. In the first two (the non-pilot)…

These item specifications were developed as a part of the Arkansas "Minimum Performance Testing Program" (MPT). There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. The purpose of an item specification is to provide an overview of the general content and format of test items used to measure an…

The Austin (Texas) Independent School District was awarded a grant by the state to establish a program for middle school students who are pregnant or parents. The Pregnancy, Education, and Parenting (PEP) program was started at Robbins Secondary School to provide maximum academic and support services, as well as licensed day care, for male and…

The Middle Grades Mathematics Project (MGMP) has been an effort to produce exemplary mathematics curriculum units for grades six, seven, and eight, evaluate the compatibility of those units in classrooms, and to study the nature of the effort needed to help teachers to teach the units effectively in their classrooms. Each activity designed by MGMP…

The Mathematics Improvement Component (MIC) was implemented in the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools in 1987-88 to improve the skills and achievement levels of pupils who were low achievers in mathematics. Three programs comprised MIC: the Elementary Program, the Middle School Program, and the Middle School Pilot Program. In the first two (nonpilot)…

This practicum was designed to enhance methods and procedures used with 15 low-achieving, disinterested, and disruptive seventh grade students assigned to a middle school's alternative education program. The primary goal of the practicum was to increase students' responsibility for their own actions and their attention to learning. A secondary…

This applied dissertation was designed to enhance the morale among teachers at a middle school that experienced high teacher attrition each year. The solution strategies implemented addressed issues of administrative support, collegiality among teachers, parental involvement, reduction in nonteaching duties, and teacher recognition and…

Intended for use by middle or high school teachers and library media specialists, this book describes a World Wide Web evaluation tool developed specifically for use by high school students and designed to provide hands-on experience in critically evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of Web sites. The book uses a workbook format and is…

This paper reports on research to determine how a school's organizational conditions and conception of teaming relate to teachers' sentiments about their work. The study proposes that people shape their beliefs and actions in concert with the structures around them. Study participants were 42 teachers at four suburban middle schools that had…

The Educational Testing Service is developing a series of assessments for the licensure of beginning teachers. The third stage of these assessments will measure the beginning teacher's application of teaching knowledge and skills, and the assessments will be performance-based. Job analysis studies were conducted to provide data to define the…