Details the specific steps used in the National Coalition's study-team approach in identifying and solving learning problems. The article describes the study-team process used in the Spring Independent School District in Houston (Texas), provides examples of its activities, and evaluates its performance. Lessons learned from the experience are…

Argues that schools' efforts at boosting student self-esteem can backfire and create above-average rates of interpersonal and psychological problems, including aggression and violence. The benefits of promoting self-esteem are believed to be questionable and may ultimately be harmful. The problems caused by overinflating student self-esteem are…

In this article, the author draws attention to the fact that in school evaluations, students will improve on state-mandated tests, but the improved scores will not influence a school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) status because those students' scores do not cross the proficiency point. A state's proficiency point on each of its standardized…

This paper examines 22 empirical computer-assisted language learning (CALL) studies published between 1989 and 1994, and 13 reviews and syntheses published between 1987 and 1992, pertaining to CALL in higher education in the United States. A "three streams" framework helps to place CALL in a larger context and illustrate its several…

The Research for Better Schools Urban Education Project provides a different framework from current education-reform efforts for restructuring urban schools and improving educational quality. This volume organizes a set of invited papers according to the Urban Learner Framework themes of cultural diversity and learning, unrecognized abilities and…

This paper reports on a project designed to improve student achievement through better communication between parents/guardians and teachers of 7th-grade math students in a large, north-central Illinois urban community. Analysis of probable-cause data revealed that no structured means of communication existed. Attempts to communicate were thwarted…

This report describes and evaluates Project SAIL, a collaborative project of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the New York City Board of Education. It is an ungraded primary unit for children from ages five through eight located at Public School 41, District 23 in Brooklyn. The project stresses school-based planning and shared…

A certified teacher and preschool parent involvement coordinator working in a parochial school designed and implemented a practicum study designed to increase children's success in school and improve the ability of parents and teachers to work effectively with preschoolers. The practicum intervention involved a commitment from the school's…

This directory includes information about schools that are working to improve student performance through the school-based management process "Onward to Excellence." Nearly 500 schools were sent an extensive questionnaire asking for detailed information about activities using "Onward to Excellence" and about results of that…

School board members can use board policies to set the direction for effective instructional management. Effective schools appear to have these characteristics in common: (1) strong instructional leadership by the principal, (2) a safe and orderly atmosphere, (3) high expectations of all students, (4) schoolwide emphasis on basic skills…

A 3-year project at Dominican College of San Rafael (California) supported by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), is summarized. The project developed comprehensive integrated student development plan with four perspectives: (skills, stages, tasks, and styles) designed as a cornerstone of all academic and…

A 2-year project was designed and implemented to improve attendance and academic achievement of targeted elementary (N=69) and secondary (N=78) school students. Teachers reported concerns about a high truancy rate and low grades among some students. The intervention provided for an individualized diagnostic-prescriptive approach in a humanistic…

This meta-analysis explored how measuring student progress toward long vs. short-term goals affects achievement outcomes. Twenty-one controlled studies were coded in terms of measuring method (toward long- vs. short-term goals) and type of achievement outcome (probe-like vs. global achievement test). Analogues to analysis of variance conducted on…

To address the seemingly intractable problem of improving student outcomes in its lowest performing schools, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission asked the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to be one of seven outside organizations (collectively referred to as educational management organizations or 'EMOs') that would manage a total of 45…

This is the national evaluation of the PUSH for Excellence Project, a Federally funded educational demonstration program carried out in schools in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Kansas City. The report presents the latest findings on the status of program implementation, and provides diagnostic information that PUSH-EXCEL…