As students across the region search for the perfect lunchbox, backpack, or first-day outfit to look their best for the new school year -- which for many begins this week -- teachers and school administrators plan to implement a range of new academic programs, strategies, and policies designed to help students do their best work.

Students are likely to grumble at some of the new measures -- such as crackdowns on hooded sweatshirts, roller shoes, and flip-flops in Randolph and tardiness in Stoughton -- but educators said they were confident the changes would cause minimal disruption and prove beneficial to all.

The changes vary markedly from district to district; in general, many systems have changed their curriculum in an effort to boost students' performance in the MCAS exams, instituted dress codes to improve student behavior, and adopted new initiatives to bolster academic standards and help students achieve them.

In Brockton, school officials have even regrouped students in hopes of improving their behavior and focus in class. Edgar B. Davis Community School has been restructured as the city's first K-8 school, a move Superintendent Basan Nembirkow said should encourage parents to get involved with the school.

The school, which will run through seventh-grade this year and include eighth-graders next year, replaces a junior-high school plagued by low standardized test scores, particularly in math.

``It was completely unacceptable," he said. ``With adolescents, you want to build a community of learners. But what you had was a structure that defeated the purpose."

Educators concluded that much of the problem was the short time students spent at the junior high. Students were just ``passing through" for two years often marked by difficult social and academic transitions and needed more consistency and continuity.

While some parents of younger children expressed concern over potential bullying, educators decided the benefits of attending the same school for nine years outweighed the risks. ``If you want more parental and community involvement, this is common sense," Nembirkow said. ``There's a vested interest in making the schools better."

Nembirkow said mixing grade-schoolers and middle-schoolers should help keep the budding adolescents in line. The district will be looking at the Davis as a potential model for restructuring other junior high schools in the city.

In Stoughton, teachers will be taking a tougher stance against tardiness and truancy so teachers have more time -- and fewer distractions -- to cover copious amounts of material.

``Tardiness is a bigger problem than people realize," said Stoughton's superintendent of schools, Claire McCarthy . ``You can't work with students who aren't there."

Teachers will also be rewarding particularly good attendance, she said.

Stoughton administrators are also seeking to analyze student performance in greater detail, incorporating classwork as well as standardized test scores. Educators will use ``common assessments" after individual units to test whether students in different schools and classes are learning what they should.

``We want to get a fuller picture," McCarthy said. ``If you don't assess how students are doing, you won't know how well your curriculum is working."

In Duxbury, teachers will be integrating reading and writing instruction more fully, believing that young students learn better if the subjects are taught in tandem, said Superintendent Eileen Williams .

Confronting a problem faced in several communities south of Boston, the Randolph School Committee plans to crack down on out-of-town students illegally attending local schools and is set to require all parents to sign an affidavit confirming that students live in town.

The residency issue also stirred controversy in Milton this spring and influenced the local debate on a major override measure, which was approved after the School Committee agreed to review how residency requirements are enforced.

In Hull, a new advisory program will assign teachers to small groups of high school students in the hope of giving them a sense of community and stability over the four years. The groups will give students a place to discuss general school life and their personal and academic goals and guard against students feeling isolated and marginalized.

Said Paula Delaney , superintendent of schools, ``This will help keep students from falling through the cracks."

Hull educators will also continue a districtwide focus on writing that began last year. Teachers have received training in evaluating writing to show students how to organize and articulate their thoughts, particularly with standardized tests increasingly requiring written responses.

``If we can improve their writing skills, they'll be ahead of the game," Delaney said.

In Norwell, middle schoolers will spend more science classes poring over lab results rather than textbooks, said Kelly Chase , the district's director of teaching, learning, and technology

The new hands-on approach will give students a chance to put their knowledge to work.

``It's getting them to apply what they've learned," she said.

In other new initiatives, teachers said they'll call on recent technology training to integrate computers into lessons, and educators will increasingly compare the progress of students across classes and schools .

Teachers are also posting lesson plans on district web sites to share strategies and encourage brainstorming sessions.

In some school systems, the changes are in the front of the classroom.

Norwood is experiencing nearly unprecedented turnover, with more than 50 new teachers entering the district. The trend is a combination of demographics and early retirements .

``The baby boomers are hanging it up," said Superintendent Edward Quigley .

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.

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