Changing demographic trends and the economy's need for well-educated young people to take entry level positions in the work force make businesses more eager to cooperate with schools to ensure the availability of adequate programs for developing prepared workers. (PGD)

Reporting on results from a survey of school improvement programs, the author points out that the majority of such programs concentrate on curriculum and instruction. While programs differ, their goals are often similar, and many do not require additional funding. (MD)

Starting on the cover, this article describes programs developed by Julian Stanley's Study for Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) at Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) for the early identification and accelerated training of mathematically and verbally gifted students. Also discussed are SMPY spinoff programs and the shortage of math and…

The media's ebonics hysteria has sparked a national debate concerning the failure of the nation's urban schools to serve African American and other minority students' needs. Oakland Unified School District's systemic reform of curricula and standards hinges on new teaching practices exploiting the connections among language, literacy, and…

Examines 20 systematic SBM studies for insights about authority delegation, fiscal inputs, objectives, and student outcomes. SBM's effects on achievement were mixed. Nine studies gave no results; three asserted positive results but gave no achievement data; one asserted negative results but gave no achievement data; two with achievement data…

New Beginnings is a collaborative effort involving the city and county of San Diego, the school district, and the San Diego Housing Commission. The project's Center for Children and Families provides about 200 families with comprehensive family service planning, counseling, prevention, referral, and health education as needed. Success demands…

Introduction of national curriculum in 1988 has required British elementary teachers to teach and assess range of subjects with little specialist assistance and virtually no planning time during the school day. Compared to one New Hampshire school, English schools lack assistance for special needs students and have less extensive parental…

U.S. and British school leaders are preoccupied with many of the same issues, including the curriculum and its assessment, the reporting of pupil achievement and use of raw scores, site-based management, parental choice as a quality lever, small schools, the school board's role, and different approaches to quality improvement. Overemphasis of…

The American Association of School Administrators' partnership with Compaq, the world's second-largest computer manufacturer, aims to improve American school districts' efficiency and effectiveness. The program features a Promising Model Recognition program for pioneering districts, an "office of tomorrow" prototype, and a members-only…

AASA's 2000 survey indicates that women are poorly positioned for superintendencies, lack appropriate credentials, have little fiscal management experience, eschew pursuit of superintendencies for personal reasons, face boards' reluctance to hire them, have higher teaching motivations than formerly, and enter the administrator preparation…

Across the nation, districts are throwing beginning administrators into school leadership positions, mistakenly assuming they already know everything. Training programs are preparing principals for a long-obsolete work environment. Committed mentors and on-call coaches can help overwhelmed and overworked principals become effective leaders. (MLH)

If user-friendliness is the key to widespread technological penetration, what education is needed for the high-tech world? For our nation's 281 million technology users, a liberal education trumps technology training. Liberally schooled people gain the power to reason, solve problems, exercise initiative, and think clearly and imaginatively-all…

Institutional norms, practices, and unwritten policies that further mediocrity include transferring nonperforming staff to avoid problems, tolerating inadequate or misleading evaluations, ignoring student-performance data in supervisory interactions, and shielding staff from meeting standards through work assignments. Focus, persistence, and…

As states have pushed to adopt high-stakes assessments, critics say the number of cheating incidents among educators has risen dramatically. Tying improvements to cash bonuses has not helped. Stretching rules to show improvement can become the norm, if superintendents don't promulgate zero-tolerance cheating policies. (MLH)

A renewed interest in early childhood programs has sparked a debate at local, state, and national levels over the content of such programs, the sponsorship, and the question of who should pay. A variety of locally run early childhood services are described. (TE)