Research on environmental literacy in students and adults has often used ratings of high and low to indicate the extent of one's environmental literacy. Such ratings miss the nuances that a continuum could provide. This study uses a contextual perspective on environmental literacy which includes such a continuum to examine the relationship between…

Drawing from a context of reception framework, this article asks the following questions: How do educators describe issues of safety and belonging in the context of a charged immigration policy climate? What practices have educators developed to support immigrant-origin youth? And, what are the relationships between educators' perceptions of…

The relationship between class size and scholastic outcomes is addressed in this paper. A literature review focuses on the research of Glass and Smith (1978) and Larkin and Keeves (1984). Contradictory and inconclusive research findings about teacher effectiveness in relation to class size indicate that emphasis should be placed on training…

This book describes Project Puffin, a project which aimed to bring puffins that have been threatened with local extinction back to the coast of Maine. The book describes puffins, how they adapted to their ocean environment, how they catch fish, socialize, nest in burrows, and raise their young. (JRH)

Compares responses of counselors in isolated school settings to their non-isolated peers on work environment issues. Reports isolated counselors viewed themselves and their role as more highly valued and felt a greater sense of control than their non-isolated peers, but found obstacles to service delivery in isolated settings. (Author/DHP)

This collaborative six-step process to assess school climate involves consulting the district to determine problematic aspects; developing measurement instruments for the district; analyzing surveys distributed, administered, and returned by the district; reviewing results with school members; forming small groups to pursue findings; and…

A second wave of educational reform is closely scrutinizing fundamental issues (structure, organization, management, curriculum, and instruction) and calling for at least partial restructuring of the public school system. After presenting a scenario of an ideally restructured elementary school, this paper explores the…

While studies of school climate abound, conceptual frameworks have been ambiguous, and parent perceptions of climate are seldom considered. This paper describes a school improvement model employed in four rural Maine school districts in which (1) a school climate assessment is designed collaboratively with school staff; (2) the assessment is…

Most superintendents experience high levels of stress associated with their school administrator role. This paper reports on a survey conducted to help Maine superintendents better understand the stressors inherent in their role. The Survey of Superintendent Stressors was distributed to all 1989-90 Maine public school superintendents and a…

Through school-based programs and community interviews, the Northern Forest Center has documented the history of place names in rural eastern Maine. The resulting book aims to move residents beyond local forestry-related conflicts by focusing on shared values, to preserve local sense of place, and to make children want to stay in or return to the…

Describes an ethnographic dissertation that portrays how patterns of culture and history in a rural community in Maine negatively influence many rural students' academic aspirations. Consolidated schools exacerbate the effect by separating students from their parents and communities and alienating them in school. (TD)

In Maine and across the nation, increasing numbers of parents are choosing to educate their children at home, often illegally. The anarchistic home schooling movement springs from various motivations: religious views, pursuit of independent lifestyles, desire to spend more time with one's children, and others. Whatever their reasons, home…

Questionnaires were mailed to public school counselors to examine the latter's state of supervision. Although 63% of counselors desired supervision, only 20% were being supervised. This lack of involvement by counselors may indicate confusion in an evolving profession as well as the profession's ambivalent feelings toward supervision. (RJM)

In 163 Maine schools, the performance of eighth-grade students on standardized tests, especially reading achievement, was highest in elementary settings (K-8, K-9, 3-8) and lowest in junior-senior high school settings (6-12, 7-12, 8-12), when socioeconomic status and teacher experience were controlled. (SV)

Described is a study in which scientific research on the Gulf of Maine was used as a framework for establishing the extent of Maine students' knowledge about the nature and management of marine systems. Methodology, frameworks, data analysis, comparisons with other standardized tests, and results are presented. (CW)