Describes benefits to school and community of a mandatory uniform policy at Squaw Park School, a K-8 school in Phoenix, Arizona. (PKP)

Discusses recent Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Pennsylvania case supporting claim that State College Area School District's anti-harassment policy violated two students' First Amendment right of free expression because it was overbroad. Draws lessons for public school officials. (PKP)

With all the social, financial and academic challenges facing schools today, the potential for strain between the board of education and the superintendent is heightened, meaning a good board president/superintendent partnership can do more to determine the effective governance of schools than perhaps any other single factor. Trust is the…

Policies governing the organization and timing of school elections affect democratic representation in school decision making. Some argue that school board elections should be consolidated with general municipal elections on the grounds that this will increase participation and representation, but little empirical work addresses the consequences…

Should a superintendent become involved in the recruitment of new school board members? Because of the importance of who serves on the school board and their individual and collective motives, does the superintendent leave the recruitment and selection of new board members to chance or does he or she become involved in recruiting? This is a…

Board meetings are the time and place where school boards act. In fact, only when coming together as a body in a legal meeting do school board members become a board. Effective board meetings are the first prerequisite for an effective board. Furthermore, what parents and voters see at board meetings determines largely what they think about their…

For the construction of its newest school in Quebec (Canada), the Grandes-Seigneuries School Board, which has long been noted for its energy efficiency approach, wanted to set itself an especially challenging project which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to close to zero. From an architectural standpoint, a series of simple methods, well…

A case study of effects of government-imposed fiscal restraint on a rural British Columbia school system outlines the restraint in its various phases, its effects on School District No. 4 (Windermere), ways the district dealt with resulting problems, and the consequences, with implications for how not to implement fiscal restraint at the school…

This book provides basic information for new board of education members on a wide range of issues that have turned up on board of education agendas in New Jersey over the past 10 years. Separate sections are devoted to the following: (1) the New Jersey School Boards Association's code of ethics for board members; (2) the governance of New Jersey…

This is a research-based book to help school administrators understand and more effectively deal with the ethical compromises that arise as a result of the complex organizational and interpersonal demands of their leadership roles. The author combines personal knowledge, candid revelations, and interview data from five dedicated school…

In a recent issue of the "AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice," Hilling (2004) described procedures for obtaining a fair compensation process for principals, and the thrust of this work was on establishing internal consistency for salaries among administrators. This article addresses similar concerns, but differs in several important ways.…

Colorado's 178 district superintendents are embroiled in a polite, yet pointed debate with Commissioner of Education William J. Moloney and the state school board over the state's role in helping districts raise student achievement. In this article, the author discusses Colorado district superintendents' grievances. They are calling for more…

On September 23, 2008, Latino state legislators from throughout the United States participated in a Legislative Hearing on Pre-K and the Early Grades on Capitol Hill. The nation's leading experts on Latinos and early childhood education presented new research and information on programs and policies that work. Their testimony provided an in-depth…

Teaching Spanish has become increasingly popular in the United States due to demographic shifts. This study focuses on a Spanish-only initiative for an existing Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program proposed by a southeastern public school district's school board. It analyzes discourses underlying the policymakers' rationales…

A study explored the experiences of four adult students who served on the board of The Learning Center, a community-based literacy program. The adult education literature touched on the challenges, benefits, and limitations of participatory practices, but the three were seldom juxtaposed, raising the question of whether the limitations equaled or…