This paper shows the school principal how to map his school district or attendance area to systematically organize and relate physical and cultural data into a comprehensive spatial pattern. Use of such maps is shown to make interactions of cultural and physical elements within the spatial pattern more easily seen and understood. Major sources of…

The purpose of the study was to provide an ecological-demographic analysis of a suburban elementary school attendance area by examining the sociocultural elements within the spatially delimited boundaries. The area, though beyond the limits of the incorporated city, was part of the urban school district which transcended the political boundaries…

The Rural Educational Environment (REE) is a complex mixture of demographic and economic forces that interact to impact the rural school corporation. The condition of REE financial and human capital indicates REE health and may influence student performance on standardized tests. This paper proposes an ecosystem model of the impact of financial,…

The prominence of agenda items, the attendant controversy, and changes proposed in 5 areas of education reform were studied in 33 urban school districts during 1992 to 1995. Only a tiny fraction of the study of American politics has focused on school boards, their attendant bureaucracies, and the local political issues involved. This paper…

Integrating information from local school district and community data sources is essential to understanding the relationships between them. A major problem in merging such data concerns the geographic incongruities of the boundaries of school districts (local education agencies) and the boundaries of communities. This paper focuses on resolution…

This report presents findings from a multi-year project on handicapped and non-handicapped high school dropouts, including a longitudinal study of high school students in five Colorado school districts and a social ecological study to identify community characteristics which predispose a school district to high dropout rates. The longitudinal…

This case study examined the recent history of a southwestern school district of approximately 80,000 students and its 1977 school board election. The results of the study provide evidence supporting the theory linking the complexity of a school district with electoral competition and with open conflict on the board and between the board and the…

Examines 3 stabilizing principles of small town organization that are intertwined with the survival of local schools: (1) centripetalism (inwardly focused community involvement); (2) inclusiveness of local associations and activities; and (3) distinctive identity. Discusses the effects of state pro-consolidation policies on rural economic…

A case study and analysis of teacher salary negotiations describes and explores a quasi-negotiatory relationship in which a group of seven school board members attempted to reach agreement with six elected representatives of a local teaching staff, neither group having had prior negotiatory experience. Through use of tape recordings, interviews,…

An analysis of two rural and two urban Head Start centers in the state of New York during the school year 1966-67 attempted to find out if rural-urban variables affect the administration of Head Start programs. The four programs were compared in terms of (1) community socioeconomic characteristics, (2) administrative organization, (3) pupil…

This presentation by James S. Coleman examines several questions: Does desegregation bring about loss of whites from schools in a desegregated system? If so, what is the extent of that loss? And what are the conditions, in the demography and ecology of the system, as well as in the form of the desegregation policy, which affect the extent of that…

This study reports on the characteristics and academic performance of recent high school graduates attending Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC). The study found that the number of high school graduates in the PVCC service region increased by an average of 4.1% each year from 1994-99. The number of regional graduates is not a good predictor…

Investigators completed a series of studies of data reported in Tennessee's 1988-89 school district cards, and compared these with 1990-91 school district report cards. The relationships among 15 school district variables and relationships between each variable and student outcomes were determined. The 1990-91 report cards contain results of the…

The purpose of this paper is to report on part of a research study designed to learn about the interrelationships of racial conflict, change in the institutionalization of social power within an educational system, and adaptive organization of the black community within Newark, New Jersey between 1958 and 1972. The central fact informing the…

This is the fourth annual publication of profiles of Alaska's public school districts as directed by the State Legislature. The profile format for the 54 school districts and the state total summary is a 2-page display of data grouped into the following 6 subject headings: (1) background; (2) operating revenues and expenditures; (3) funding…