A one-semester course in urban school district leadership is presented that links the principal, central office administration, and the school superintendent in a leadership triad. Issues of administrator education are explored in the context of the lack of focus on urban education in most teacher and administrator training. (SLD)

The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has launched a new initiative entitled "Doing School Choice Right." Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates, Annie E. Casey, and Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundations, the initiative's goal is to help state and local leaders handle practical issues whose resolution can determine whether school…

This paper explores the degree to which the public education funds in selected districts have become players at the policy table and examines the factors that permit funds to have a credible voice in the turbulent political world of urban districts without seriously jeopardizing their working "inside" relationships with these systems. The analysis…

Education is an investment in human potential which effects economic prosperity. The high rate of failure for students in public elementary schools from eight large school districts in Louisiana is alarming. Averaged over the school years 1983-1984 to 1985-1986, the percentage of failures in grades 1 through 8 ranges from 6.65% to 17.6%. The state…

This report examines comparative data on fiscal need factors critical in equitably financing public education and on factors with varying or unique implications for urban, suburban, and rural school systems in Tennessee. In analyzing the current operating expenditures for 1976-77, expenditures were divided into two components--instructional…

The Elementary Secondary Education Act Title VII Bilingual Program operated at the Bilingual Mini School housed in P.S. 59 completed its third year in operation and will be expanded next year to include fourth grade participants. Grades serviced by the program during 1973-74 were Kindergarten, first, second and third. Instructional procedures in…

During the 1972-73 school year, Community School District 17 in New York City opened its Bilingual Center for Pre-Schoolers, funded under Title VII of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act. The major objectives for the program were: (1) to improve verbal communication skills of all students in their first language; (2) to develop comparable…

A discussion of the educational problems of big-city school systems which defines the community school concept or philosophy, and emphasizes the role of an energetic school-home partnership composed of the community, parents, leaders, and educators. (JM)

The Education Commission of the States presents an urban education policy framework that is guided by the firm conclusion that state and city leaders must develop a collaborative approach to improve the state and urban education system. Toward this end, the following recommendations are made: (1) raise the state's academic standards; (2) free up…

Contemporary reforms lobby for deep changes in mathematics teaching and learning, yet classroom practice continues, in many places, to be as conventional as ever. This study examines how one mid-sized urban school district marshaled resources for change in mathematics instruction. The study involved a 3-year observation of a small group of…

Descriptive findings concerning organization and management practices in 16 urban high schools across the United States are reported in this paper. The findings are based on data from the as yet incomplete 3-year District/Secondary School Study. This research effort involved urban comprehensive high schools without special admissions requirements…

This article discusses several relatively new issues involved in current debates over education finance policies, notes the research related to them, and summarizes the areas for which additional research is needed. The areas discussed are the impacts of school finance reform, school district financial behavior, the impact of school finance reform…

In 1969, after much controversy and the submission of many bills, the New York State Legislature passed--and the Governor signed--a school decentralization law. The law went into effect on February 16, 1970, with the major transfers of power operative on July 1, 1970. This report examines those aspects of the three-year school decentralization…

This paper analyzes some of the causes of urban educational problems. The major focus is on poverty, racial isolation, and the educational bureaucracy. These factors are discussed in some detail. In a section devoted to attempts to change the educational situation several avenues and approaches are presented. Most crucial is the broadening of…

Drawing largely on data from Los Angeles, but with reference to other cities where appropriate, this paper attempts to clarify the distinctive positions taken by advocates of community control as opposed to proponents of administrative decentralization. While community control is essentially a political demand, oriented toward citizens influencing…