The Manitoba School Improvement Program (MSIP) encourages Manitoba high schools to include students in their improvement projects. Through an array of action-oriented, student-centered initiatives, MSIP has come to a new understanding of "student voice" that encompasses various levels of students' engagement in both school improvement…

This paper draws on the findings of a major research project funded by the New South Wales Department of School Education (Australia) which sought to examine the school-community interface and communication in comprehensive high schools. Data were drawn initially from nine schools in western Sydney, with three of these schools being the subject of…

Using data from 60 oral testimonies, student handbooks, and yearbooks, this paper describes the Americanization of Japanese Americans in Hawaii through public school education between 1930 and 1941, delineating the roles that participation in student government, sports, clubs, assemblies, and home recreation played in the socialization process.…

Concerned with protecting the First Amendment rights of high school and college journalists, this focused journal issue analyzes libel law and the question of liability in the student press. Covering such broad topics as ethics, courts, censorship, administration, student government, and libel, the journal articles (1) question journalism as a…

This bulletin reports on five high schools that have effective, comprehensive student leadership programs. First, it reviews ways in which student councils can enrich students' lives. In addition to having a positive effect on students' success in school and later life, involvement in student activity programs influences the way that students…

A study examining student feelings of empowerment in a rural Midwestern consolidated high school surveyed 54 students. Results indicate that students from the town where the school was located felt the most ownership in the school; most students were satisfied with the student council; and students were more involved in decision making in…

A recently desegregated high school student subsystem in a Deep South urban center is examined in this paper. It was found that although court ordered desegregation paired two high school populations, it did not effect racial boundaries. The whites, largely because they had been attending the school prior to desegregation, have been able to…

The First Amendment rights provided to journalists--freedom of speech and of the press--are fundamental beliefs held by Americans. What students learn in the government class, however, may not be what they learn as editors-in-chief of student newspapers. U.S. schools are being charged with the censorship of student publications at an…

This report gives the findings of two surveys of high school seniors on their views of leadership, conducted for Sylvan Learning Centers and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. One survey was conducted by mail with students who were named as one of their states' Sylvan/NASSP "Century III Leaders." The second survey was…

Students in a Winnipeg (Manitoba) alternative high school participated in a project designed to increase student voice in their own learning and in school direction. Studying emotional intelligence, helping plan a provincial student conference, and conducting research on student priorities developed real-world skills, increased appreciation of…

Focusing on the area of student participation, this paper considers the findings of a research project conducted by a team at the University of Western Sydney, Nepean, and funded by the New South Wales Department of School Education. The project was broadly focused on investigating the dynamics of communication within the school communities of…

Presents a checklist of student-government advisers' responsibilities governing bylaws, organization, section or appointment guidelines, job descriptions, committees, meetings, attendance policies, decision making, problem solving, public relations, goals, communication methods, training, budgets, fund raising, advertising, and other matters. A…

"Who needs the student council?" The student needs the student council. Secondary school youth need practical experiences in doing those things expected of adults in a democratic society. The school needs the student council because the quality of education is improved when students are involved in an assessment of the educational experiences…

Questionnaires were distributed to student body presidents, building representatives of the teacher organization, principals, and school board presidents of each of 80 randomly selected Kansas high schools (with representation from each of 4 size categories) to determine how various groups affected by attendance policies perceived the…

A comparison of adolescents views about school, based on data gathered 26 years apart, shows remarkable similarities. Students interviewed in 1963 were from Detroit schools while 1989 interviews were conducted in small-town schools of Texas, Missouri, and Minnesota. viewed poor teachers as lacking respect for students, unwilling to try to…