Described are characteristics of the school improvement planning and implementation efforts made in the 47 New York State schools that were identified as low-performing in 1985. This report identifies the aspects of the school improvement process which were completed, and offers recommendations concerning appropriate actions for all schools. Data…

This case study examined the implementation of the California Mentor Teacher Program (CMTP) in a large urban school district. The CMTP is an effort to retain skillful teachers and to improve teaching by promoting direct, rigorous, and consequential activities and relationships between mentors and beginning teachers. The participants in the study…

This paper focuses on issues related to the management, goals, activities, and problems of the State Education Coordination and Grants set-aside of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). (This provision places 8 percent of each State's total allocation for training for Disadvantaged Youth and Adults (Title II-A) under the authority of the…

Initial difficulties in the process of teaching 6 first-grade teachers to use reciprocal teaching in their classes, and the disappointing outcomes of the instruction, led researchers to several conclusions. Researchers realized that the beliefs teachers held about the nature of knowledge and the process of knowledge acquisition had a powerful role…

A study obtained information about implementation and impact of competency-based vocational education (CBVE) in Massachusetts secondary schools. Information was collected from teachers, administrators, Division of Occupational Education staff, the State Leadership Team, and staff at the Massachusetts Vocational Curriculum Resource Center. Findings…

A study was conducted to describe some of the tools, techniques, and approaches that secondary school educators use to direct change activities. It presented early evidence of successful use of two sets of vocational education resource materials in 12 demonstration sites, 6 for each resource. The materials were "BASICS: Bridging Vocational and…

This study evaluated the effect of a comprehensive training program for teachers based on Madeline Hunter's Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP). To examine the question of implementation, teachers in the first through fourth grades in Napa Valley elementary schools were observed teaching two reading and two mathematics classes before and…

The Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP) is a program of CEMREL, Inc., one of the national educational laboratories, and was funded by the National Institute of Education (NIE). Its major purpose is the development of curriculum materials for kindergarten through grade 6. This document has several goals. The main ones are to summarize…

The site variability issue for Direct Instruction Follow Through sites is examined from a variety of perspectives--meta-analysis of the Abt Associates' data, norm-referenced comparisons, and a longitudinal look at stability of effects. Much of the seemingly unexplained variability found in both the Abt report and the reports by M. Kennedy and E.…

Change process research had developed some practical tools and concepts which can assist in the determination of essential variables for an evaluation design. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) Project at the Texas Research and Development Center in particular has developed specific measures which can be applied directly: "Levels of Use…

Practical assistance for adult educators is offered in this four-part document, which outlines the present status of adult education, particularly with regard to courses about computers, and discusses an approach for improving the situation. Important considerations in the improvement of adult education are discussed, including the conditions of…

A survey of 35 principals was conducted to determine their perceptions about the impact environmental influences had on the desegregation planning process and its outputs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A model based on the principle of general systems theory was designed by the investigator and used as a conceptual framework to conduct the study. The…

A survey of 46 Arizona school districts revealed that the districts use computer assisted instruction most frequently in language courses; 37 percent of the responding districts use microcomputers, but 45 percent of all microcomputers are used in only one district; use of microcomputers is planned for both administration and instruction; and…

Current theory in community education holds that community education programs should move from a "program" orientation to a "process" orientation--process being defined vaguely as an open democratic structure. Three long-running community education projects in rural communities were studied for evidence of this phenomenon. Data…

Based on a search of the literature, a series of eight propositions were derived to describe the basic middle school language arts program being portrayed in the literature. Fifty principals and language arts department chairpersons were asked to rate, on a scale of one to five, the degree to which their language arts department accepted and…