Examines the education of young adolescents in New Zealand. Specifically examines: (1) background history of middle schooling in New Zealand; (2) growth of interest in middle schooling; (3) case studies of three different schools; and (4) factors common to successful New Zealand middle schools. (SD)

Three categories of structural characteristics (career processes, role relationships, organizational context) associated with the principal's role shape behavior in ways that restrain the rate at which principals initiate change. (IAH)

In poor, urban schools, so much time is spent controlling and disciplining children to obey authority (or to learn the hidden curriculum), that scant time is left for "real" teaching and learning. This article shows how school culture (conditions, norms, relationships, and structures) can be changed to educate all children adequately. Includes 10…

Maintains that many schools have changed to a form of block scheduling. Describes and discusses the impact of several models of block scheduling. Asserts that, when music educators understand the consequences of various scheduling options, they can be more credible participants in discussions of how best to schedule school time. (CFR)

Interviews with faculty at 10 European universities examined 2 issues in developing effective staffing structures: (1) possible barriers to vertical and horizontal mobility caused by a worsening environment; and (2) the possibility of value-dissonance for staff as a consequence of new requirements. Clear identification of responsibility for…

Investigates possibility of applying industrial organization theories to construct evaluative, analytical framework for educational institutions. Defines organizational identity in terms of culture, communication networks, and school image, using each to examine instability and conflict at Scotland's Summerhill school. Concludes cultural divisions…

Current educational reform proposals are fixed on modifying existing structures and lack imagination. Cooperative learning and individualized instruction are time-worn "innovations" treating the symptoms of a terminally ill system. This article presents 32 transitions to transform education into a world-based, teacherless experience featuring…

Perceptions of their learning environments are studied for 112 medical students in Canada through interviews over 2 years. Students perceive that structures of the learning environment foster a highly competitive milieu influencing their approach to learning. Processes of teaching are viewed somewhat more positively. (SLD)

The Effective Schools Program in St. Louis, Missouri, public schools expanded the concept of effective schools developed in Project SHAL (1980-1984). The following five characteristics are considered effective school factors: (1) strong administrative leadership (2) high teacher expectations; (3) positive school climate; (4) total school…

The 571 secondary schools selected by the United States Department of Education for recognition as exemplary institutions represented urban, suburban and rural communities. The proportions of minority students were not markedly different from the national distribution, nor did the socio-economic status of families with students differ greatly from…

This literature review concerns the concept of alternative grade configurations at the elementary level, in which elementary schools are subdivided into primary (K-2) and intermediate (3-5) units. Because of the paucity of literature on this concept, the major part of the report focuses on the reorganization of the elementary schools of the South…

This report describes the New York City School Improvement Project, a program designed to help participating schools to improve their instructional effectiveness through school based planning groups that represent the schools' constituencies. The project design and procedures for determining the needs of individual schools are discussed, as are…

The evaluation of the Los Angeles Alternative School (LAA) was designed to determine whether the school was an alternative school in the sense that it operated under a set of values and related operational principles which differ from those which guide traditional public schools. Anthropological field methods rather than traditional research…

The author sketches out an argument for the institutionalization of a new role within the public school system, namely, that of school sociologist. Such a person would address himself to the problems which schools face in regard to various groups or communities which they must deal with both within and without the school's walls. Three major areas…