A random telephone survey was conducted in July 1987 as part of a collaborative effort by the Kentucky School Board Association and the Appalachia Educational Laboratory to discover the public's perceptions about the local school board's role. Survey questions, fielded by trained and supervised interviewers, also addressed public opinions about…

High turnover rates among school board members, increasing complexity of school affairs, high costs of education, and demographic upheavals are among the factors that make efficient school board management very difficult. To cope with these factors, school board members need inservice training, particularly at the local level. Further, this…

Describes survey results sent to all state environmental education coordinators designed to reveal a generalized picture of environmental education requirements, guidelines, resource materials, staff, and teacher education requirements in the United States. Includes survey. (MKR)

A comprehensive evaluation process begins with school board policy. Policy should provide direction by addressing the issues of who and what are to be evaluated, why evaluation is needed, when and by whom the evaluation is to be completed, and how the information is to be reported. An evaluation system, regardless of who is evaluated, should focus…

Developed for use with 90 school systems in Western Pennsylvania, this manual was field tested and modified in some of those systems. It allows school board members to test themselves on six important aspects of school board operation: (1) the conduct of meetings, (2) relationship with the administrative staff, (3) educational program improvement,…

New Canadian minority students, ages 6-16 were the subjects of this study on evaluation practices, educational policies, and placement procedures. The term denotes immigrants of West Indian, East Indian, or Portuguese origin, or other non-Anglo-Saxon background. Structured interviews were conducted with 34 Ontario boards of education and with 245…

Three questionnaires designed to measure attitudes regarding homework and the current homework policy in the Belmont Elementary School District are provided. The teachers' survey includes questions related to the district's homework policy (which is included in the instrument), the amount and type of homework they assign, and how they feel about…

The task of a focused conversation and its facilitator is to release the genius, wisdom, and experience of the group on a topic and guide it towards a considered conclusion. Various purposes for holding a focused conversation on high schools and the recommendations of the Iowa Learns Council are: (1) Highlight the attention the community is…

This article reports on a study of Illinois school board presidents' perspectives on teacher tenure. It begins with an historical overview of the development of teacher tenure from its roots in the 1880s civil service legislation through the establishment of teacher tenure in the United States to an examination of current teacher tenure laws and…

A questionnaire which school districts in California were asked to fill out in an effort to determine the scope of responsibility and authority they feel is delegated to the district superintendent by the governing board is presented. The form asks them to check whether the superintendent has (1) complete authority; (2) authority, but must inform;…

As an alternative to assessments conducted by the State Department of Education, Arizona school districts can use this handbook for self evaluation of their compliance with school law, which is basically controlled by Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) Title 15 and State Board of Education policy. This handbook is divided into seven parts which…

Teacher leadership plays a significant role in the professional culture of many schools across the country, according to principals who value it. This is the major conclusion from a survey and telephone interviews conducted by the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL). While limited in scope, the study confirms the contributions of teacher…

Midwestern educators paint a hazy picture of the past 5 years of educational reform. While the general consensus is that great strides have been made by local schools and school districts, few agree that state governments' efforts to facilitate reform have been adequate. To meet the challenges of the future, the majority of midwestern educators…

This self-appraisal checklist was designed by the Ohio State Board of Education to help Ohio teachers and administrators improve elementary science programs. The checklist is organized into seven major categories which represent essential aspects of an elementary science program, including: (1) philosophy; (2) organization and administration; (3)…

This self-appraisal checklist was designed by the Ohio State Board of Education to help Ohio teachers and administrators improve secondary science proqrams. The checklist is organized into seven major categories which represent essential aspects of a secondary science program, including: (1) philosophy; (2) organization and administration; (3)…