Discusses the benefits of teachers acting as student advocates as opposed to mere functionaries of the educational system. Describes the qualities of a good teacher while showing how educational organization and administration make it difficult for such to exist. Suggests alternatives that would maintain the necessary organization while promoting…

Presents the educational ideas and practices adopted in the Research Group on Education (RGE) schools (Bulgaria) as a means of training people for the new information age. Details the educational system and the characteristics of the curricula under the RGE system. (CW)

While more research needs to be done in the area of adolescent literacy, there is growing agreement about some of the characteristics successful literacy intervention programs share. The purpose of this brief is to provide information to help policymakers, educators, parents, and others concerned with adolescent literacy make informed decisions…

This paper discusses the work of the Education Trust and other teams of researchers and school leaders. If focuses on one symposium on and five research studies of high-performing, high-poverty schools. The six studies provided information about best practices in school leadership, organization, and instruction. Building on scholarship from the…

This bulletin demonstrates that Berkeley, California's educational problem is and has been that of meeting the varied needs of a population such as may be found in any typical American city. The varied population needs, together with the rapid growth, have brought many difficult problems to Berkeley, just has they have to other cities. Based on…

The list here presented is not intended to include the "hundred best books" on education. It merely offers, within a reasonable compass, representative selections from those divisions of educational literature, both general and special, that are of marked interest and value to the public-school teachers of America. As such it may serve…

The legislature of every American Commonwealth, except Alabama, was in regular session during the years 1929 and 1930 here reviewed. A large mass of educational legislation was enacted. The enactments represent the latest types of legislation on the subjects with which they generally deal. Distinctly new educational movements are not conspicuous…

Explores the attrition rate of instrumental music students between the initial grade level of instruction and grade seven. Compares retention rates between those programs that housed grades five and six in the same building and those that housed them in separate buildings. Considers implications of these findings. (MJP)

This study investigated middle school organizational patterns and their impact on teachers' efficacy and perceptions of the working environment. Analysis of survey responses by 81 eighth grade teachers indicated that teachers on interdisciplinary teams with common planning time were significantly more positive than were teachers on…

Describes the creation and design of Co-NECT, a computer and networking project created by Bolt Beranek and Newman Educational Technologies to help improve teaching and learning in K-12 schools. Discusses student and teacher experiences, evaluations of experiences, necessary school infrastructures, and the organization and politics of schools and…

For this study, middle-school teachers, students, and principals completed surveys on organizational climate, quality of life, and use of recommended middle-school practices. Student attitudes toward school life were only slightly affected by openness in faculty relationships; they were more affected by classroom organization and use of accepted…

Considers issues of school choice and school autonomy. Parents, society as a whole, and the educator team of each school should have a lead role in answering the basic questions about schooling. Examples from schools in other countries illustrate some new approaches to school autonomy. (SLD)

Advocates applying the theories of Anton S. Makarenko, an early influential Soviet educator, to the practice of school administration in the Soviet Union. Reviews Makarenko's theories, focusing on the establishment of a unified labor collective school, responsible for students' political socialization and character development. Stresses the…

Reviews the system of elementary education in the Republic of Ireland. Examines demographic data on the nature and size of school population and the organization of elementary education; describes curriculum at the junior and senior grade levels; presents research findings relating to reading, mathematics, science; and considers teacher and…

Reports on the effect of external political pressure on the distribution of influence in school districts. Focuses specifically on the influence exercised by school-level administrators and teachers on school-level policy. Expounds on a theory of local variation across institutional organizations using the High School and Beyond study. (CFR)