Composite statistical data was collected on the education in all the rural counties of the United States. Data were drawn from the findings of two major surveys conducted by the Office of Education as a part of its 1954-56 "Biennial Survey of Education in the United States": (1) the Rural County Survey covered multi-district…

The U.S. educational system and student achievement are examined using a historical perspective. Academic achievement, school budgets, educational innovations, and educational philosophies are compared across different periods of U.S. history. Problems associated with various changes in the educational process are outlined. Parental attitudes on…

An urban-suburban interdistrict program is described in which efforts were made to correct racial imbalance in both districts. In 1965 free transportation was provided for 25 first grade children who were sent voluntarily from a Rochester, N.Y. public school to six schools in the West Irondequoit district. This longitudinal metropolitan approach…

A survey was administered to a representative sample of 8,500 students attending the nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District during fall 1977. The purposes of the survey were to determine the nature of students' educational goals, levels of college preparedness, extra-curricular interests, transportation patterns, student work…

Focusing on factors which shaped and influenced public school supervision, the paper investigates educational developments in the late 19th century. During this period the movement toward centralization in urban public schools gained considerable momentum. Educational historians have largely ignored the role school superintendents played in the…

This selection of 49 articles deals with the crises and conflicts of urban education. Articles discuss the impact of urbanization, social stratification, the effects of urban poverty on black and Puerto Rican families, and the disadvantaged school dropout. Many articles deal with proposed solutions. Among these are readings which discuss the…

This brochure reflects information concerning the findings of staff members of the Elementary Schools Organization Section of the Office of Education in their visits to 16 cities (Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Haven, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Diego, and…

This publication explains how New York City has made a beginning in the adjustment of school procurement to meet conditions in a society where the most abundant resource is people. Faced with a burgeoning school population and dissatisfied with the existing and planned facilities, the city of New York formed a School Space Study committee in 1970…

An alarming trend of low performance and legal problems dogged the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) in the early and mid-1990s. In 1997, the Maryland State Legislature adopted a law creating a partnership between the sate, city and BCPSS, creating a new Board of Commissioners to run the school district. Under this leadership, serious…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Preparing, Recruiting, and Retaining Education Professionals: Senator Reed Proposes New $500 Million Bill to Improve…

The KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Diamond (Daring Individual Achievers Making Outstanding New Dreams) Academy, housed in Cypress Junior High School in Memphis, Tennessee, opened in the summer of 2002. KIPP goals include enhancement of academic achievement and promotion of positive student leadership through an innovative redesign of…

"The Achiever" is a monthly newsletter designed expressly for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) Proposed Budget Invests More Into NCLB, Neediest Students; (2) Making History: L.A. County School With Disadvantaged…

Intuitively, class size reduction is a good idea. Parents support it because it means that their children will receive more individual attention from teachers. Teachers like it for the same reason and also because it creates a more manageable workload. It is generally assumed that the fewer students in a class, the better they will learn and the…

This paper asserts that central to the debate over excellence and equity in education is the shifting nature of authority over public education in the schools and school districts of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, noting that the autonomy that local school districts have historically exercised is fading, if not gone. The 1993 Massachusetts…

Houston, Texas, was one of the cities awarded a grant via the Annenberg funds to implement school reforms. It developed the Houston Annenberg Challenge with local collaborators to initiate and nurture systemic change, thus improving education. A research and evaluation study investigated how funded schools implemented the reform initiative, what…