The perceived value of postsecondary education to economic competitiveness and individual success is driving innovation in higher education. Competency-based education (CBE) is the latest disruption that seeks to respond to the growing sense of national urgency to boost education attainment. The target audience generally includes those adult…

"Transforming Science Assessment: Systems for Innovation," is a series of resources designed to provide state education leaders with: (1) Information about how states are currently pursuing statewide assessment systems in science; (2) Analyses of what features influence different approaches, with an eye to supporting state leaders as…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

This case study presents a chronicle of events spanning a decade in Kentucky that led to state policy changes for principal preparation and details the response to those mandated changes by professors at the University of Kentucky. Professors' collaborative efforts resulted in a new teacher leadership program and redesigned principal certification…

Includes "Community Education (CE) Development in the States" (Clark, Zemlo); "State of the States" (Clark, Zemlo); "In Support of State-Level CE Development" (Decker, Romney); "CE in Florida" (Hanley, Robinson); ""CE in Kentucky" (Christenson, Whitus); "CE in Minnesota" (Kerns,…

The papers presented in this paper accompany a core report about the Appalachian Math Science Partnership (AMSP) entitled "The Appalachian Math Science Partnership: A Multi-State Umbrella Partnership Promoting Local Mathematics and Science Reform Report." Each of them focuses on an especially effective strategy or component of the AMSP…

Describes the "Industry Exploration Tour," which provides vocational educators with hands-on experience to learn the needs and wants of industry as they relate to preparing people for work. (Author/JOW)

The Appalachian Math Science Partnership (AMSP) is a project within NSF's (National Science Foundation's) Math Science Partnerships (MSP) initiative. Funded at $23 million over five years, the AMSP involved 51 school districts and nine higher education institutions in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The AMSP faced two significant challenges in…

Provided in this interim report is a summary of activities relating to the Pikeville, Kentucky career education project. With specific emphasis placed on career education for the elementary grades and on occupational placement for grades 7-12, the report provides information on: (1) Goals and Objectives, (2) Project Design and Procedures, (3)…

This study examined the characteristics of school systems and programs that have been successfully involved in change over the past 10 years and that are continuing to update services through external sources. Four models of innovation are outlined: the traditional research-development and utilization (RDU) model, the Linkage Model (Havelock…

The Louisville Public School District is probably the only large public school district which has systematically begun change on a "systems" basis. Top school officials first made a wide-ranging assessment of the most pressing problems in the district, developed and stated their premises, and then planned two programs. The primary…

The Kentucky Family Resource Centers developed under the Kentucky Educational Reform Act are described as examples of the school-linked service movement. The lessons learned in the development of the centers and policy issues that need to be addressed by both education and social services to assure continued development of this movement are…

This document provides a framework for the development of sustained and coordinated activities to support Kentucky teachers in learning the new roles and ways of teaching envisioned in the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. The report begins with a discussion of the context of reform, which is seen as consisting of two realities: new expectations…

The Common Thread Case Project is a multi-year project that uses multimedia compact disc technology and high-bandwidth telecommunications to provide a unique, case-based professional development network for teachers in the midst of systemic reform in the state of Kentucky. The project is a partnership between the University of Kentucky, the…

In the 1990s, the nation's educational focus turned to troubled schools in the nation's poorest cities. Under the leadership of Luther Williams, then Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Urban Systemic Initiative was created to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics. Recognizing that high-needs…