The report, overseen by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI) on behalf of the European Commission and of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency is the second report in the series dedicated to promoting inspiring practices in digital education from the 27 European Union…

We explore the recent undertaking in El Salvador to establish the country's first industry-higher education clusters in four economic sectors critical to growth and competitiveness: (1) information and communication technology; (2) light manufacturing; (3) energy and energy efficiency; and (4) agroindustry and food processing. These clusters take…

Using the USAID-funded South Sudan Teacher Education Project (SSTEP) as a case study, this paper examines the emerging guidance on the conflict-sensitive design and implementation of teacher education policy and programming in conflict-affected environments. We refer in particular to the guidelines and conceptual frameworks provided by the…

Research and professional leadership standards identify specific ways in which principals directly influence school organization and community relationships and exert less direct, but critically important, influence on teaching quality and instructional effectiveness. Principals' roles are central to supporting and supervising teachers'…

Performance funding--the linking of allocation of resources to accomplishment of certain desired outcomes--is an idea that is once again finding favor with policymakers. It has intuitive appeal; what's not to like about paying for results? While it is a notion that makes common sense to most decisionmakers, it is an idea with a very checkered…

Analysis of Qatar's standards-based student assessment system, the first in the region, offers several lessons for other nations instituting similar reforms. These include the need to coordinate on standards and assessment development, allow sufficient time for a fully aligned assessment, and communicate about the purposes and uses of testing.…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

Nearly two decades of research has taught some powerful lessons about how to design and implement meaningful and effective professional development for teachers. This newsletter examines the characteristics of high-quality professional development and offers some suggestions for improving its impact and effectiveness. For reform efforts centered…

In "Online Professional Development for Teachers," the authors look closely at exemplary online professional development programs, compare them carefully with one another, and draw helpful conclusions about them--both for those who develop online programs and for teachers and administrators in search of professional development programs…

Local school systems, Local Education Agencies [LEAs], and universities, Institutions of Higher Education [IHEs], work together in a variety of ways in the initial preparation and ongoing professional development of teachers, although it is difficult to ascertain the number of LEA/IHE partnerships. These relationships typically allow for a…

In response to a Congressional request, the General Accounting Office studied the process that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses to select projects for the homeless for funding, whether this process is consistent with statutes and community priorities, whether communities face any common problems when applying for HUD…

State and local efforts at interagency collaboration for handicapped children are examined in a report that first describes the mandates of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act. Effective approaches to state-level interagency collaboration in Louisiana, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…

The report presents recommendations made by a panel of experts in gifted education regarding education for gifted students in Florida. Among recommendations are those for increasing minority representation in gifted programs, modifying the state definition to complement general intellectual ability with specific academic aptitude, using a multiple…

This report describes the process by which an integrated evaluation, planning, and budgeting system was developed and refined for use in Georgia's postsecondary vocational education system. An introductory section reviews the factors responsible for the lack of a systematic process in Georgia and outlines the objectives of the system development…