Conflict arises when superintendents and their boards do not have a reasonable degree of agreement among expectations, needs, and goals. The superintendent-board member relationship thus becomes an important focal point of the forces within the social (school) system. (BR)

For years rural schools have survived by solving their problems with cooperation, experimentation, and flexibility, the qualities urban and suburban schools are being urged to adopt in confronting their current problems. (Author/IRT)

This school district declared its outdated equipment surplus and held a public auction that produced more money than the usual sealed-bid method. (IRT)

This school board put itself through an inservice program to learn new skills in goal-setting. (IRT)

In summary, adopt written policies that explicitly cover all aspects of corporal punishment and other disciplinary procedures; review those policies at least once every two years to keep them current. (Author/IRT)

In this system, all entry-level salaries are negotiable and there are no fixed salaries for years of service or, with one exception, for educational attainment. All salary increases are across-the-board and calculated on base pay, plus a flat fee for extra duties. (Author/IRT)

Lists 16 things to consider before closing a small school. All 16 items are concerned with reducing per pupil expenditures. (Author/IRT)

Students may be punished for publishing articles that urge disruption or that are obscene, defamatory, malicious, or improperly invade the privacy of others. The school board should adopt a strong, clear policy that does not violate the First Amendment. (Author/IRT)

The superintendent of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, school district discusses the school improvement plan he has implemented in the Pittsburgh schools since 1981. (MD)

An earlier paper examined the first of three necessary conditions for winning a school tax increase: a perception that the money is needed, that it will be well-spent, and that higher taxes are bearable. This paper examines the second condition. Citizens' ratings for superintendents and school boards heavily influenced their assessment of district…

Beliefs/assumptions about policy implementation (PI) held by school board members, district administrators, principals, and teachers in a district (Lyttefield) in western Canada were examined via interviews. The three different/conflicting conceptualizations of community relations and elementary school self-assessment PI (held by the school board,…

Study investigated the factors that influence the use of evaluative information for decision making by school boards. Study suggests that there is no set process for decision making but that there are decision-making patterns that depend on contextual variables. (RB)

Recently, each department at Green Mountain Union High School (Chester, Vermont) was asked to update its curriculum and research current theories on the use of homework through national organizations. Teachers in each department then prepared current practice statements and developed policy statements concerning homework's value. (MLH)