Educators can either decry the changing brain and the media-saturated culture or adapt schools to accommodate these changes. New cognitive research affirms some time-honored practices, but is opening up new possibilities concerning the development of young brains; the role of emotions in learning; and the importance of connections to past…

Current community-engagement models, which relegate the public's role to insignificant activities, play into special-interest groups' hands. One new approach creates alternative forms of community forums to encourage public deliberation. Forums frame issues to invite deliberation; allow participants to deliberate, not debate issues; and provide…

Far too often, school boards and superintendent candidates are constrained by flaws in traditional search strategies. The best matches occur when school boards proactively recruit a targeted group of "best-fit" candidates, assure applicant confidentiality, ban inappropriate community and staff participation, outlaw candidate pools limited by…

Now in its 10th year, the National Superintendent of the Year Award recognizes outstanding executive leadership, based on candidates' prowess at meeting students' needs, communication skills, administrative knowledge, and community involvement. The nine previous winners are still working in education, regard the award as a career highlight, and…

School boards and labor unions can benefit from a shared-revenue model. Labor costs would be contractually tied to available revenue, rather than to fixed expenses. Labor would have greater fiscal authority than under traditional collective bargaining and a real incentive to manage its own fiscal resources, since it could keep what it saved. An…

Describes community-based "wraparound services delivery" programs for at-risk special-needs students with behavioral problems to help retain them in the general-education environment of local schools. Community services are wrapped around the needs of the student based on an assessment of the strengths of the student and his or her…

Describes how the whole-school approach to educational restructuring can achieve quality inclusive education that meets the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Includes list of characteristics of inclusive schools. (PKP)

Argues that ableist assumptions are jeopardizing the education of children with disabilities. Suggests that educators and parents take the following steps to end ableism: Encourage disabled students to develop and use effective and efficient skills and modes of expression; maintain special education as a specialty; promote high standards, not…

Describes the superintendent's role in training members of the school board to lead. (PKP)

Time blocks' learning value can be increased markedly by helping staff develop brain-compatible teaching strategies. Teachers should establish relevance; hook students with short video sequences, dramatic skits, and simulations; schedule at least two learning activities per session; and capitalize on pulsed learning sequences, cooperative teaming,…

When a special-education student in the Tucson (Arizona) Unified School District moves to a new address, that information is communicated quickly and efficiently to every office needing to know. School community members have discovered the value of a well-planned information-management system. Specifics about line speed, vendor reliability,…

Notes school leaders have two jobs: creating and sustaining high-quality schools, and acting as a moral compass for community action in children's behalf. Suggests that since children head no political action committees, administrators must shed their manager image and devise solutions. Introduces six special essays by Robert Coles, Marian Wright…

Describes successful strategies used by school superintendents in Sauk City, Wisconsin; Beaverton, Oregon; and Vancouver, Washington to overcome barriers to implementing after-school programs. Provides brief summary of Mott Foundation-funded study of after-school programs conducted by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). (PKP)

Former principal relates personal experience in being transferred from an affluent suburban school to a poverty-area school with the lowest test scores in Westchester County (New York). Tells what he did to improve student test scores and some lessons he learned from the experience. (PKP)

Retired superintendent describes his teaching experiences at the Juneau (Alaska) County Charter School, an alternative secondary school program for at-risk students. (PKP)