NASSP Bulletin

In addition to a demographic analysis of school pop ulations, the authors project the kind of changes that will affect the schools. The consequences, they say, lie far beyond mere numbers. They caution educators against forming mind-sets for either growth or decline.

An administrator who has experienced declining en rollments and has coped with the resulting problems presents in this two-prong article, first, an overview of the phenomenon along with an outline of a strat egy for closing a school, followed by specific sug gestions on reducing staffs.

The activities used in Birmingham, Mich., to close a junior high school are presented here to help the principal facing the task for the first time. In addition to guidelines, the author summarizes the concerns and problems of the administrators who were in volved in Birmingham.

How school districts use surplus buildings depends very much upon the local communities. The author urges administrators confronting this situation to involve the community. He examines several alter natives available to school systems, commenting about the advantages and disadvantages of each.

In a suburban district that experienced continued growth from its inception, the sudden specter of declining enrollment required a complete turnabout in attitudes and techniques. How the school board and its administrators are handling the situation is described here in detail: committees formed, charges assigned, members appointed are all care fully spelled out.

Managing decline rather than growth in the years ahead will require school administrators to have entirely new skill techniques. The author describes them and the creative approaches the new leader ship will have to exercise as they relate to curri culum changes.

The author describes the assistance his state, through its department of education, is providing school administrators involved with declining stu dent population. He believes that the hard-won gains of the past need not be lost if educators will resort to "decremental planning."

In the following article Von Brock takes a look at recent legislation dealing with student rights in school disciplinary actions. Von Brock feels that the principal's authority to discipline has been tempered, but not lessened, as a result of this legislation.

In the following article Gilman states the case for minimum competency testing as a requirement for high school graduation. If students are to take their places as contributing members of society, he argues, the schools must provide them with what society needs in the way of skills, knowledge, and values. In short, schools must provide students with survival skills. And the need for survival skills brings a need for proficiency testing.

After reviewing educational literature dealing with the use of community resources for education, the author has identified some prevailing themes. He documents these themes in presenting a case for the use of community resources as learning re sources.

James B. Conant once said, "Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out." Bippus applies Conant's statement to the educator who works to improve instruction.

Universal goals such as justice, self-actualization, openmindedness, and political efficacy should be the goals of schools, this writer believes. His article ranges widely in the philosophical realm but in no sense rejects the content of education. Concrete knowledge must share the limelight, however, with knowledge of the universal abstractions, he ex plains.

Last fall Association Management, a widely read journal of the American Society of Association Executives, carried an article encouraging all and sundry parties to descend on the schools for essay contest competitions. Undoubtedly the author was sincere, but unusually naive about the essay contest approach. Prominent in the article was the implica tion that here was an innovative idea whose time had come and the secondary schools of the nation were eagerly awaiting this unique opportunity to participate. To head off another tidal wave of re quests to already overburdened teachers and ad ministrators, the executive director responded immediately with the following rebuttal statement. Because of its general interest to our members, it is reprinted in the NASSP Bulletin at this time.

Speaking with the conviction that comes after 40 years in school administration, this author says today's principals are missing a bet if they neglect to meet with students, teachers, and the commu nity. He shows how the idea has been recognized as a leadership characteristic throughout history.

Many proposed solutions to the problem of school discipline, while impressive sounding, are too ex pensive for shrinking school budgets to bear. The authors, who rely on personal experience, suggest that an existing resource, if functioning effectively, can keep disciplinary problems in check. That re source is the school principal.

Hoehn and Gaddis were participants in a project to survey community attitudes about the local high school program. Videotape was chosen as the vehicle by which this could be accomplished. They describe their experiences below.