This book is the result of a major effort by the National Study of School Evaluation to develop and publish evaluative materials for middle schools and junior high schools. The 'Manual' describes the organization of the evaluation, and provides directions for its use in the evaluative process. Guidelines for conducting the self-evaluation by individual schools and the evaluation by a visiting committee are presented with the full understanding that procedures may vary from state to state and region to region.
The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education provides a comprehensive overview of the field. This publication includes seven anchor essays (5000 words) that cover the following topics: the history of the middle school movement; academically excellent curriculum, instruction, and assessment; developmental responsiveness in relation to young adolescents; social equity in middle grades schools; leadership in middle level schools; teacher and administrator preparation and professional development; and future directions in relation to the movement, practices, and policy. Leading scholars in the field of middle grades education were invited to author these essays. In addition to the seven anchor essays, the encyclopedia contains alphabetically organized entries (short entries approximately 500 words; long entries approximately 2000 words) that address important concepts, ideas, terms, people, organizations, and seminal publications related to middle grades education. Contributors to the encyclopedia have provided sufficient information so that the reader can place the idea, concept, person, etc. into its proper context in the history of the middle school movement. Entries are meant to be introductory; after an overview of the essentials of the topic the reader is guided to more extensive sources for further investigation. Where appropriate, the reader is also directed to electronic sources such as websites where additional information can be retrieved.
Based on the spatial perspective, this book takes the urban area of Xi'an, China, as the main research region and studies the balance of resource allocation, focusing on educational resources and school layout. The author constructs a mathematical model to measure the level and types of resource allocation and regional differences in primary schools, and uses GIS spatial analysis to explore the efficiency and fairness of school spatial layout. The book suggests a better way for the balanced development of basic education in Xi'an city. It also provides theoretical foundations, analytical methods and empirical support for the study of balanced public resource management in public service, urban planning and urban geography. This book is suitable for students and scholars of tourism management, regional planning, facilities and urban management, and those interested in resource allocation in Chinese urban areas in general.
