Managing Reform: Lessons from Urban High Schools

ABSTRACT

American high schools present an extremely difficult, nearly intractable setting for serious educational reform efforts. Yet such efforts can succeed. This article reports results from a survey of 179 urban comprehensive high schools that were successfully implementing change programs based on effective schools principles.

All schools encountered problems of implementation. Larger‐scale, instructionally‐oriented, and longer‐lasting programs induced more problems. Problems were only moderated, not eliminated, by good‐quality planning.

Given the problem‐richness of change efforts, the major determinant of successful implementation was good problem‐coping. It was made more likely by the presence of consensus (shared vision), support of key stakeholders in and out of the school, planning quality, external assistance, and administrative time spent. Case studies showed that the presence of an empowered change management group aided all these critical factors.

Schools with the most impact (defined as student outcomes, teacher improvement, and organizational improvement) had focused on teacher or organizational changes to begin with, coped with the inevitable problems well, had internal and external constituencies supporting the change effort, and sustained the work for a longer period of time (typically 4‐5 years).

The key variables appear to form a coherent causal network. Implications for change management are drawn.     

Reports on Computer Assisted Instruction in Israel

This project is a modular CAI system intended to produce better learning in elempntary mathematics, seeking real solutions to real problems. The central computer hottses a model of knowledge which is the changeable component of the structure. After the initial experience with mathematics a reading comprehension course and an ‘English as a second language’ course will be prepared. The system includes pedagogic strategies as a teacher model.     

Frontal Electroencephalogram Asymmetry, Salivary Cortisol, and Internalizing Behavior Problems in Young Adults Who Were Born at Extremely Low Birth Weight

The authors examined internalizing behavior problems at middle childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood and brain-based measures of stress vulnerability in 154 right-handed, nonimpaired young adults ( M age = 23 years): 71 (30 males, 41 females) born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; < 1,000 g) and 83 (35 males, 48 females) controls born at normal birth weight (NBW). Internalizing behavior problems increased from adolescence to young adulthood among ELBW individuals. ELBW adults exhibited greater relative right frontal electroencephalogram activity at rest and more concurrent internalizing behavior problems than NBW controls. Being born at ELBW may have subtle influences on brain–behavior relations even in survivors without major impairments and evidence of these influences may not emerge until young adulthood.     

Toxic effects of Litsea elliptica Blume essential oil on red blood cells of Sprague-Dawley rats

Litsea elliptica Blume leaves have been traditionally used as medicinal herbs because of its antimutagenicity, che-mopreventative and insecticidal properties. In this study, the toxic effects of L. elliptica essential oil against Sprague-Dawley rat's red blood cells (RBCs) were evaluated. L. elliptica essential oil was given by oral gavage 5 times per week for 3 treated groups in the doses of 125, 250, and 500 mg/(kg body weight), respectively, and the control group received distilled water. Full blood count, RBC osmotic fragility, RBC morphological changes, and RBC membrane lipid were analyzed 28 d after the treatment. Although L. elliptica essential oil administration had significantly different effects on hemoglobin (Hb), mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean cell volume (MCV), and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) in the experimental groups as compared to the control group (P<0.05), the values were still within the normal range. L. elliptica induced morphological changes of RBC into the form of echinoeyte. The percentage of echinocyte increased significantly among the treated groups in a dose-response manner (P<0.001). The concentrations of RBC membrane phospholipids and cholesterol of all treated groups were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.001). However, the RBC membrane osmotic fragility and total proteins of RBC membrane findings did not differ significantly between control and treated groups (P>0.05). It is concluded that structural changes in the RBC membrane due to L. elliptica essential oil administration did not cause severe membrane damage.     

Urban Minority Ninth-Grade Students' Health-Related Fitness Knowledge

The purpose of the study was to examine Hispanic and other minority ninth-grade students' health-related fitness (HRF) knowledge, using FitSmart, a standardized test for high school students. The test consisted of 50 weighted multiple choice items, measuring six subcontent components. Means and standard deviations of the overall scores and the subcontent scores were computed. The findings suggested that students demonstrated mastery of one subcontent component but failed to meet passing values for all other subcontents and overall HRF knowledge. Female students outscored their male counterparts, but there was no difference for ethnicity. More efforts are needed to ensure that Hispanic and other minority high school students master fundamental HRF knowledge.     

Influence of birth quarter on the rate of physical activities and sports participation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the potential influence of birth quarter on the frequency of physical activity and participation in specific activities during adulthood. We used data from one national and one provincial survey, the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey and the 1998 Quebec Social and Health Survey (Enquête sociale et de santé du Québec) respectively. We analysed the distribution of participants at each level of practice of a given leisure activity and work-related physical activity. In the Canadian Community Health Survey, a relative age effect was found for participation in soccer in the 25- to 60-year-old population. However, for volleyball, a significant relative age effect was also observed but with over-representation of the last quarters of the year for the whole population and for men aged 12–60 years. In the Quebec Social and Health Survey, significant differences in the frequency of distribution without a relative age effect were revealed for participation in women's ice hockey, work-related physical activity level, and stage of change for physical activity. Overall, the data indicate that the systematic relative age effect reported in other studies for some competitive sports, such as ice hockey and soccer, is not as prevalent in leisure physical activities during adulthood. This may reflect lower competitive selection and attrition in population physical activity compared with competitive sports in younger athletes.     

Perceptions of African American Faculty in Kinesiology-Based Programs at Predominantly White American Institutions of Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of African American faculty on their organizational socialization in kinesiology-based (i.e., sport pedagogy, exercise physiology, motor behavior, sport management/history) programs at predominantly White American¹ institutions of higher education (PW-IHE). Participants were 9 African American tenure-track faculty members from various kinesiology-based programs at PW-IHE. Data were gathered via interviewing and analyzed within the framework of critical race theory (Ladson-Billings, 2000). Findings are presented using storytelling and thematic narratives. Interviews with the participants revealed four major recurring themes with regard to: (a) resources, opportunities, and power structures; (b) programmatic neglects and faculty mentoring needs; (c) social isolation, disengagement, and intellectual inferiority issues; and (d) double standards, marginalization, and scholarship biases. This study suggests that faculty and administrators at PW-IHE should develop sensitivity toward organizational socialization issues relevant to faculty of color.