The Ashland University's superintendent licensure program had not been revised and updated for the last several years. With all of the educational reforms in the first part of this new millennium, there was a pressing need to redefine and develop the overall program and courses embedded in it. An action plan was set up to carry out several steps…

Despite the call for a transformation of teacher education in the 21st century, surprisingly little has changed. This includes how the practical, hands-on component, known as a field experience is structured. Previous research, conducted in 2010, specifically examining how teacher education programs address K-12 online learning through their field…

In this commentary, James W. Fraser, a noted historian of education, cites examples from several teacher education programs at more than 30 universities partnering with the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowships in various ways. Additionally, Fraser reviews decades of challenges to traditional teacher preparation, looks at some current reforms, and…

This brief summarizes efforts to reform developmental education at Zane State College and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Focused on accelerating student success and progress, the two schools pursued distinctive approaches to reform that aligned with their institutional missions and student populations. Recognizing that the…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

Less than 25 percent of college students who take any developmental education courses earn a credential within eight years. Over the past three years, the six states in the Developmental Education Initiative have developed and enacted unprecedented changes in policy and practice in an effort to reverse these dismal outcomes. "Ahead of the…

A community school is a place and a set of partnerships connecting a school, the families of students, and the surrounding community. A community school is distinguished by an integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. The community school strategy is central to efforts…

Job embedded professional development in the K-12 education setting has long been discussed and debated. This study builds on standards of critical reflection and thinking using the National Institute for Excellence in Education's Teacher Advancement Program's master teacher model as a conduit between theory and practice. A study of professional…

Urban universities are a key resource for municipal government, businesses, community organizations, and citizens to foster partnerships for successful renewal of distressed urban neighborhoods. From its experience over the past decade, the Ohio State University has created a successful model for engagement with its neighborhoods and the City of…

Conventional school improvement models traditionally involve "walled-in" approaches. These models focus primarily on academic learning strategies in response to standards-based accountabilities. Although positive outcomes have been documented, expanded school improvement models such as the Ohio Community Collaboration Model for School…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to the University of Dayton (UD) on November 5-7, 2008, to conduct interviews with individuals who played significant roles in the university's teacher preparation program (see Appendix A). These interviews, along with additional materials provided by UD and identified by the AED…

Doubts about effectiveness and relevancy have made the academic preparation of superintendents a reform issue in most states. Attention being given to this topic has inevitably rekindled several fundamental questions such as: To what extent is the academic preparation of superintendents consistent among and within states? What forces control…

This issue of the NCEDL Spotlight Series newsletter adds California and Ohio to a re-analysis of findings from an earlier report looking at the move to establish a state pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds in Georgia, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, and Texas. Key figures in political and educational circles in these seven states were…

The major purpose of this descriptive report is to provide an overview of the structure, capacity, and roles of educational service agencies (ESAs) across five states--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin--in the Great Lakes region, within the context of the broader statewide systems of support for educational improvement and progress.…

Among the major educational policy shifts in recent years has been the establishment of state-funded prekindergarten programs. This study extends an earlier one of the development of prekindergarten policy in five states by focusing on policy development in two additional states, California and Ohio. Potential informants in each state who were…