This guide, second in a series of four volumes, offers a method of surveying parents' attitudes about choosing schools for their children and provides a survey instrument used over a period of 5 years in four Massachusetts urban school districts. Section 1 introduces the basic research questions pursued in the survey. Section 2, "The Parent…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics in 1987-88 and 1990-91, asked teachers and principals their view of problems in their schools. When asked about a range of school problems including absenteeism, student drug abuse, and physical conflicts among students, teachers and principals could…

This article describes an attempt to reduce truancy through intervention in the school system. This strategy had two goals: (1) amelioration of truancy as manifested in individual patterns of behavior; (2) elimination of setting events and/or contingencies within the school system that evoke or reinforce truancy. (Author/KC)

Violence in the schools is a fundamental concern for students, educators and communities as they collectively address issues that make schools safer. A longitudinal analysis of disciplinary referrals was conducted with a large countywide school district to measure differences across socioeconomic status and school level. These variables proved to…