Living-learning programs (LLPs), also known as learning communities, offer students a shared academic focus within a residential community; thus, LLPs are considered ideal contexts for student learning. In 1994, Zeller highlighted Washington State University as an example of how learning communities can successfully incorporate faculty, students,…

In 2006, six community and technical colleges in Washington State joined the innovative national reform initiative called Achieving the Dream (ATD). This report describes the progress each college made in implementing ATD's "culture of evidence" principles for institutional improvement, examines strategies implemented by the colleges to…

Reporting on a rural planning and development program that proposes to develop, install, and evaluate alternative models for more effective collaboration and integration of the complex bureaucracies with responsibility for rural regions, this paper describes "Partnership for Rural Improvement" (PRI). Focusing on 11 counties in…

The league of Cities for the Arts in Education encourages the integration of all the arts in all parts of school curricula for all children. An overview of the project and the individual programs of Hartford, Little Rock, Minneapolis, New York, Seattle, and Winston-Salem are described. (JMD)

Summaries of the design, planning, and implementation of performance funding programs in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington reveal the challenges and opportunities of this reform approach. Performance measures and objectives and the history of the program in each…

In many ways, the changing history of the Dutch windmills reminds the author of the many teacher education programs she has worked with and, in particular, the one she now works with at the University of Washington. To those who are unfamiliar with the inner workings of teacher education, programs that prepare teachers probably appear much as they…

This case history describes the Washington State Career Change Program which is designed to respond to the career needs of unemployed residents who have been laid off or unable to continue their jobs as a result of economic, technological, or health factors beyond their control. The career change program assists these individuals in identifying…