The public's attitude toward public schools is the topic of this interview with George Gallup, in which he discusses the impact of the mass media and recent national education reports, the need for schools to improve their public relations efforts, and the role of the principal in this. (DCS)

A committee of business executives and educational leaders list common interests including the possibilities of joint lobbying, influencing students, reduction of welfare and unemployment costs, addressing the problems of minority and disadvantaged students, cooperatively developing human resources, and determining community needs. Options for…

The principal of a new high school in New York City, which is to serve as a model for innovative practices, describes how his school's program is attempting to establish an educational environment that will meet the anticipated needs of all students. (Editor)

Educators now retired from active careers can provide schools with services that they sorely need but cannot offer because of limited staff or lack of funds. This writer outlines how these persons who have both skills and experience can continue to contribute to the schools. (Editor)

As Henry Adams realized a century ago, a universal education system of the highest quality is fundamental to development of our economy, quality of our lives, and health of our democracy. Although business has finally realized its obligation to education, the real leadership must come from principals that encourage the public to expect even more…

Today's principal still faces many of the control issues of the 1960s and 1970s, due to subtance abuse, child abuse, gang violence, dropouts, and other problems. Emerging technology is making curriculum obsolete. The principal can emerge as a community hero by involving parents and community leaders in creating an instructional improvement plan.…

A solid school public relations plan benefits the school, students, and community. The plan need not be elaborate. A four-step process of research, planning, communication, and evaluation is described here. (Author)

English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs are proliferating because of sudden, often unexpected growth of immigrant populations in predominantly "homogeneous" communities. When these changes occur, principals should work with the community to acquire demographic information and project enrollment and educational needs, cooperate with local…

Adolescent childbearing is embedded in persuasive societal problems and is not limited to ethnic minority groups or females. Although youth are reaching biological maturity earlier, society has delayed their acceptance as adults by requiring more years of education to secure decent employment. Also, today's economy makes family formation more…

Outlines the findings from the NASSP Task Force on Effective School Climate including clear definitions of school climate and a model illustrating the inputs and outputs of the school environment. Includes a table for the model. (MD)

Recommendations for increasing participation of functionally illiterate adults in community education programs include decentralization of educational sites, availability of transportation and child care, and instruction stressing functional literacy and teaching reading and computation as tools for solving students' personal and social problems.…

Neither the schools, nor the juvenile justice system, nor the criminal justice system can cure the problem of juvenile crime, says the author. Before the problem can be solved, we must separate delinquency from criminality, and offer troubled youth some alternatives. (Editor/RK)

Seventeen guidelines spell out major considerations for thinking about, planning, and implementing a middle school. The authors offer them as the basis for school and community discussions. (Editor)

Discusses successful curriculum development through cooperation of the school board and the community. Examples of successful curriculum projects are given. (Author/LD)

Suggests that many learning disabled students can be educated within the conventional secondary school setting if the school is blessed with a knowledgable, sympathetic principal. (Editor/RK)