This study aims to explore the existence and extent of social media visions, policies and guidelines in high schools in Flanders (Belgium, Europe) and how these policies are embedded in the schools. The research findings are based on qualitative data collected in 47 high schools. Next to an in-depth document analysis of all available school…

As a result of the national shift to a more standards-based model for education, principals across the country are leading organizational change in all aspects of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and leadership for student learning. One reform initiative, entitled standards-based grading (SBG), attempts to reimagine the way schools measure and…

Enacting college and career readiness policy in secondary schools requires systemic involvement of all school professionals, but identifying the specific roles that should be played by teachers and counselors remains a challenge. The study reported in this article used qualitative interviews with counselors and teachers to describe this challenge…

Ohio substance abuse policies, discipline codes, and educational drug abuse prevention programs are reviewed. An effective substance abuse policy is an essential element in the school's efforts to deal with drug and alcohol use. In many U.S. schools, the use of alcohol and drugs interferes with the education process, and it appears that substance…

Questionnaires were sent to 244 English department chairmen in the public high schools of Michigan's six largest cities in this study, which (1) describes the content of the various book selection and book complaint policies used by the departments; (2) compares the effects these policies have on the inhibition or resolution of censorship; and (3)…

Two eastern superintendents explain how to develop sportsmanship in interscholastic athletics. A summit meeting in Superintendent Ritacco's district produced a policy governing sportsmanlike behavior in district athletics programs and community youth leagues. Superintendent Kerr's board embedded sportsmanship in a larger athletic philosophy that…

Many major studies dealing with high schools agree that schools must press for higher performance standards in basic skills. These studies disagree on the role that vocational education ought to play in public schools. The author offers a checklist of what vocational educators should do to increase their role in shaping new educational policies.…

To help keep students alcohol- and drug-free, some principals have extended local school policies beyond campus boundaries. Before proceeding, principals must consider who should frame the policy, appropriate verification procedures, policy parameters, and policy initiation particulars. A Maryland high school's cocurricular participation contract…

The Center for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) studied the background, implementation, and effects of curriculum policies, including graduation requirements, student testing, curriculum controls, and indicators. This document examines the findings about curriculum policy in the school context. A total of 188 interviews were conducted at the…

This paper reviews the literature which examines school policies currently guiding educational practice in the area of student substance abuse and discusses the relationship between special education and substance-using and substance-abusing students. Reviewed are: (1) definitions of substance abuse, which vary with the conceptualization of the…

Issues relevant to the formation and implementation of clearly defined and enforceable discipline policies to maintain a secure school environment are discussed in this paper. One area of tension exists between the development of stricter discipline policies for student standards of conduct and students' constitutional rights. Conclusions are that…

The development, implementation, and evaluation of a policy to increase student attendance in Albemarle High School, Virginia, is described here. Implemented in 1976, the policy called for mandatory grade reduction for students with large numbers of unexcused absences. The program evaluation revealed that the basic objective of improving student…

Seven guidelines for setting minimum competency standards for high school graduation are presented: (1) Competency standards for the diploma should be developed by a process that gives major attention to the needs of students yet recognizes an institutions's responsibility to societal needs. (2) Competency standards should be developed using good…

The School Organization program of the Center for Social Organization of Schools is currently concerned with authority-control structures, task structures, reward systems, and peer group processes in schools. This report, prepared by the School Organization program, examines one aspect of authority-control structures in high schools--content of…

High school students no longer keep company with the grown-ups they are about to become. Schools and districts have grown exponentially larger, impersonal, and bureaucratic, resembling post offices. Superintendents and boards who know their schools only through media representations or statistics fashion unrealistic policies. Coercion and…