This publication contains three articles that examine the changing role of the urban superintendent. The first presents highlights of interviews with Dr. Walter Amprey, superintendent of the Baltimore City Public Schools, and Dr. Donald Ingwerson, who served 12 years as the superintendent of the Jefferson County, Kentucky, Public Schools. Each…

This digest focuses on educators' collaborations among themselves and with parents in reforming schools to serve language minority students well. Examples are provided from the Program in Immigrant Education, a national program working to improve the education of immigrant students in secondary school. Specific attention is focused on the…

This book reviews the literature and institutional practice concerned with intercollegiate sports in higher education. Six sections cover the following topics: (1) academics and athletics (e.g., trends in research and scholarship and a framework for institutional analysis); (2) fiscal fitness: the peculiar economics of intercollegiate athletics…

"The ERIC Review" is published three times a year and announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue explores systemic education reform via an overview of systemic reform, a description of the Kentucky example, and an article, "Roadmap to Restructuring" (David T.…

Schools are expected not only to conserve society's values and standards, but to be dynamic organizations with built-in mechanisms for incorporating rapid, far-reaching change. Although change is unlikely unless at least one highly motivated individual assumes the role of initial change agent, lasting change requires more than the efforts of a…

Corporate education is an extensive, multifaceted endeavor, costing billions of dollars, educating millions of people, and absorbing many working hours annually. Offerings range from remedial to postgraduate level management and technical courses. Corporate educators are fulfilling educational needs of nontraditional students, often before…

In the 1990s, the changes brought about by technology, the global economy, and demographics have necessitated the reform of educational systems. One response, given impetus by federal legislation, is tech prep, an articulated secondary-postsecondary program that provides technical preparation in an occupational field, integrates academic and…

This ERIC Digest describes how experiential education can help in designing a curriculum that young people find significant. It also describes ways experiential education can help educators make the transition from a traditional program to an activity-based program. Experiential education differs from traditional education in that teachers first…

Integrated programs provide students with a balanced mix of academic and vocational skills needed in the workplace and for lifelong learning. Basic skills in mathematics, science, and communication form the foundation for lifelong learning and the content for higher-order skills. Occupational skills depend on and do not exist apart from academic…

In this annotated bibliography of 12 publications on school climate are 3 entries that suggest specific ways to improve the school climate and 1 that outlines leadership techniques for principals. Ways to assess school climate are covered by a review of assessment instruments, a discussion of the measurement issues, a description of major…

In recent years, professional development for public school educators has come to be seen as a key component of school improvement plans, particularly large-scale systemic change programs. This Digest outlines what research and best practice suggest about effective professional development for elementary and secondary teachers working in…

Professional development schools (PDS) offer significant promise for restructuring university-school district relationships around a common agenda of modeling exemplary practice, preparing teachers, and conducting research. Central to the success of such efforts will be the development of shared vision regarding the teaching profession and the…

This ERIC Digest addresses issues concerning training and recruiting minority teachers in question-and-answer format: (1) How is the shortage of minority teachers expected to affect the quality of educational services? (2) Why is minority enrollment declining at the higher education level? (3) What can be done to change the situation? and (4) What…

Explores ways that rural community colleges can develop collaborations and relationships that foster educational access and economic development. Discusses the Rural Community College Initiative, a program that assists colleges in the United States' most distressed rural areas in designing locally effective educational practices. (EMH)

Argues for a new organizational culture of collaboration in the community college, one defined by student-centered goals. Discusses several projects that employ this new partnership model, specifically Santa Ana College's (California) Summer Scholars Transfer Institute, which developed from a collaborative assessment by the internal and external…