Discusses how to engineer more time into the school day for staff development by restructuring staff, using technology, and team teaching. School boards and parents must be given education, information, and results to experiment with these and other options to create time. A sidebar describes how to create a 15-hour block of time for planning or…

Presents an interview with John Goodlad that focuses on the major impediments to educational renewal today, the major goals of his 1999 conference of educational leaders, what he hopes to achieve in the upcoming years, factors that impede collaboration between individuals and institutions, important educational changes that need to occur, and the…

Explores critical thinking as it has been constructed in schooling and in dominant traditions of psychological theory, presenting a dialectical view of critical thinking suggested in the social and philosophical writings of critical theorists (e.g., Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse) and supported by the sociohistorical or cultural-historical…

Used meta-analysis of 60 studies to investigate the direction and magnitude of the relationships between a variety of school inputs and student achievement. Analysis finds a broad range of resources to be positively related to academic achievement and further suggests that moderate increases in spending may be associated with significant increases…

Discussion of the roots of youth violence and aggression suggest that long-term solutions will be complex and require significant changes in the conditions that contribute to violence, not merely adding more security and swifter or harsher punishments. Questions are posed concerning causes of violence as well as our culture's fundamental…

Discusses techniques to help create clean and inviting school locker rooms. Daily, weekly or monthly, biannual, and annual cleaning strategies for locker room showers are highlighted as are the specialized maintenance needs for aerobic and dance areas, running tracks, and weight training areas. (GR)

Discusses the origins of school fires and the components of the fire protection code called the Life Safety Code (LSC). Three of the following LSC requirements are described: means of egress; protection from hazards; and fire suppression and alarm systems. Information on who starts fires is highlighted along with preventive measures. (GR)

Explains why private companies and schools doing business with one another may be harmful to students. Problems uncovered from a decade of commercialization in the classroom are discussed as are issues of for-profit companies seeking to take over the operation of public schools, and one attempt to impose legislation to curtail commercialism. (GR)

Explains how schools can take advantage of energy-saving opportunities to better meet the needs of the future without increasing energy demands. Energy-savings ideas as components of a complete energy management control system are highlighted as are tips on saving energy through equipment and classroom design selection, and energy conservation…

Uses the average-monthly-temperature function as an application of the sine wave. Argues that the attractive aspect of gas bill graphs is that they clearly illustrate that sinusoidal curves are useful and meaningful in an everyday context. (ASK)

Presents results from a study that examined students' understanding of connections between algebraic and graphical representations of functions. Discusses a possible reason for the inadequate and often absent connections that students made between them. (ASK)

Investigates first year prospective secondary school teachers' beliefs about and attitudes toward mathematics. Finds that prospective teachers generally perceived good mathematics teaching to include the provision of enjoyable experiences. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/ASK)

Describes the evolution of the Manitoba School Improvement Program's approach to evaluation as a way to build school improvement capacity. Explores what has been learned about how to move schools into an empowerment model of evaluation and considers the benefits of empowerment evaluation to educational reform. (SLD)

Describes mathematics, skills and understanding as being completely intertwined. No one can acquire conceptual understanding, problem solving skills, or basic skills individually; rather, they go hand in hand. This false dichotomy of skills and understanding impedes efforts to improve mathematics education. Gives several examples to show that deep…

Agricultural education can provide others with assistance in making the school-to-careers movement a success. Work-based learning for students and externships for teachers are two potential contributions. (JOW)