The fourth annual report on Florida's progress toward excellence in the State University System is presented. A total of 20 "indicators" of quality were used; they include the following seven national measures of efforts toward reaching the upper quartile of state university systems: (1) average full-time faculty salaries, (2) number of…

The fifth annual report on Florida's progress toward excellence in education within its state university system describes the status of the system according to 20 indicators of quality. They include the following seven national measures of efforts toward reaching the upper quartile of state university systems: (1) average full-time faculty…

A study was conducted of four urban middle schools in Boston serving 1,600 students, mostly from low-income minority families, to assess urban public school effectiveness. School level practices were the primary focus of the study, but self-reports of classroom teaching behaviors were also studied in relation to student achievement through…

The current status of education is presented in the form of education "indicators"--key data that measure the "health" of education or its trends. These indicators derive from studies carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics as well as from surveys conducted elsewhere, both within and outside of the Federal…

Research undertaken during the 1970s and early 1980s on the education of poor and minority children and young adults in higher education is evaluated in this book. First, an overview is provided of recent research on the development of education for the Mexican-American and Black communities and a framework is established for the education of…

Following a brief welcoming statement by Gwen Ericcsen, Executive Director of the Foundation for Oregon Research and Education (FORE), conference papers address a wide range of issues on the current challenges of educational reform. Among these issues are the hard choices brought about by the changing economics of education, and the value of…

American education is not as inadequate as public opinion indicates. The literacy and skill of American youth are higher today than forty years ago because of our high achievement standards and commitment to equal educational opportunity. These opposing principles have been reconciled by the diversity encouraged in institutions, teachers, and…

The Stanford Achievement Test was administered to 2,186 of the 47,045 Montana high school students to analyze whether or not school size is important in determining student achievement, and to analyze factors that affect student achievement and whether those factors vary by school size. The sample included 1,311 sophomores and 875 seniors. To…

THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TASK FORCE REPORTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULUMS FOR INTERMEDIATE (MIDDLE) SCHOOLS ARE EVALUATED IN THIS STUDY. A TEAM OF EDUCATORS AND CONTENT SPECIALISTS EXAMINED THE MATERIAL WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF SPECIALLY PREPARED GUIDELINES AND THE PREVIOUSLY STATED OBJECTIVES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLS--TO DEVELOP THE INSIGHTS,…

Idealistic federal legislation that invokes excellence and fairness, such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, may actually leave many rural communities behind as rural schools seeking to meet the federal mandates collide with state budget deficits of historical proportion. Drawing on the literature, public opinion polls, and the…

This paper seeks to guarantee that all preK-college students are provided an equal opportunity for a world-class education, noting that ultimately, success must be measured by student achievement and recommending that all educational agencies partner with community agents to develop and implement strategies to remove racial disparities and improve…

The growth of potential GDP in Mexico is not fast enough to narrow the income gap with other OECD countries at a sufficient pace. The persistent weakness in human capital development contributes to this situation. In particular, Mexicans spend comparatively few years in formal education, and the quality of the education they receive is lower than…

Special education in Baltimore City--the educational program for students with certain mental, emotional, or physical disabilities--has been a nagging, intractable, and very public problem for at least 25 years. Community leaders have been mindful of the inequities that undermine the education of students with disabilities and continue to address…

This digest discusses the findings of empirical studies on teacher-directed and child-initiated preschool programs. Three long-term preschool curriculum comparison studies--the High/Scope Preschool Curriculum Comparison, the Louisville Head Start Study, and the University of Illinois Study--were started in the 1970s. These studies indicated that…

POLYTECH High School in Woodside, Delaware, has gone from being among the worst schools in the High Schools That Work (HSTW) network to among the best. Polytech, which is now a full-time technical high school, has improved its programs and outcomes by implementing a series of organizational, curriculum, teaching, guidance, and leadership changes,…