To ensure that school districts and schools meet acceptable performance levels, many school districts and states have enacted various accountability policies. Two of the most controversial approaches to accountability are reconstitutions of schools and state takeovers of school districts and schools. For each approach, this policy brief presents…

This synthesis of recent literature on school effectiveness offers educators empirical research on which to base plans for staff development and school improvement. The introduction notes the limitations of effective schools research and points out its potential to clarify thought about schools. A section on instruction reviews research on…

The programs and publications of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research from 1980 to 1984 are listed and described in this document. The center's efforts focus on the study of the nature and effects of diversity among students. The research program adds to knowledge about how children learn, how they are taught, and what characterizes…

Examines 1,213 Tennessee elementary teachers' responses to 6 organizational indexes to determine effects of school organization and administrative support on teacher commitment. Finds novices needed organizational support for behavioral management and boundary tasks, midcareer teachers needed autonomy and empowerment, whereas veterans' commitment…

This monograph consists of 22 reprints of reports published since 1979 in the Middle School Journal's regular column "What Research Says to the Practitioner." Each report synthesizes research studies related to effective implementation of middle school programs and concludes with a list of references. The contents are divided into two main…

A study examined the nature and operation of the institutions in which exemplary vocational education programs exist. Three research questions guided the study: Are there common elements that characterize institutions as exemplary? How is the presence of these common elements reflected in educational levels and types of institutions? and What…

This packet is designed to assist educational leaders in presenting current research-based information on the characteristics of effective schools to their school staff. The packet is divided into five sections, each including a sample presentation script, transparency models, and worksheets for promoting group discussion. The first section is an…

This manuscript, prepared by Doctor Koos and the staff, is a summary of the entire survey as published in 27 other monographs. It epitomizes the organization of secondary education, giving due stress to full-time and part-time schools; to the nature of the secondary-school population, showing that it has increased very greatly and, therefore, it…

This article is based on the Keynote Address to the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Crete, Greece, 21-25 September 2004. One of the most consistent results in sociology of education research has been the existence of inequalities in school results and educational trajectories related to social factors. Despite an important…

A preliminary inquiry on "The contemporary judgment as to the culture element in education and the time that should be devoted to the combined school and college course." was authorized by the Council of Education of the National Education Association at the Boston meeting, 1903, and a committee was appointed. The brief recommendation of…

It is not a simple matter to attempt to summarize the achievements or point out the apparent tendencies in an educational program providing for 21,000,000 children, engaging the services of 600,000 teachers, and involving an annual expenditure, with public secondary education, of more than $2,000,000. Neither is it a simple matter to present a…

This report is part of a multi-year project conducted by the Institute for Responsive Education (IRE) and Boston University components of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools and Children's Learning. The report draws on results of a series of focus groups and interviews conducted in 1994 and 1995 to explore how policymakers and parents,…