Scope and arrangement
The collection documents Alton Rison's administration at Junior High School 117 and the methods he used to improve teaching methods and increase accountability of student achievement levels in this inner city school in Brooklyn, New York in the 1970's-1980's.|||The papers contain faculty memoranda, curricula, school board policies and those designed by Rison, statistics on achievement and percentage of pass/fail students, and documents pertaining to the effectiveness of different teaching systems. Rison kept voluminous records to document the progress of his management methods. His annual "Daily Events" files contain memoranda, schedules, reports for each day of the school year and summer sessions.|||Rison also required teachers to prepare monthly progress reports and deposit copies of all examinations with him. Each department was required to produce a "Materials of Management" binder for display in the administrative offices, to allow other teachers at J.H.S. 117 to study their methods and results. Additional material includes daily "Cabinet Meeting" minutes (1982-1984), and yearbooks (1971-1986). The collection also documents the teacher/union/administration clashes that occurred as Rison implemented his plan.|||Also in this collection are Rison's writings which include his unpublished autobiography, "From School Chaos to Achievement (A True Story)," and scripts for his unpublished plays such as "In the Principal's Office," "In the Teacher's Lounge," and "Oh Brooklyn, You're My Home!" Photocopies of reviews of his work as a principal and as a playwright and posters from one of his plays complete the collection.