The important features of 10 college and university plans for information processing activities are highlighted. About half have decided which strategy will be followed and have determined the broad outline of implementation. The remaining organizations are still creating strategies. Many concepts will require large amounts of financial and human…

Details are provided of the development of a new library at Clarkson College. It was seen from the start that the new center needed to be viewed as the hub of a campus-wide system to provide integrated informational support for instructional, research, and administrative activities of the entire college. (MP)

This article proposes rules of thumb about the teacher education design process. The rules are grounded in the attempts at reforming teacher education at Washington University in the early 1970s, at a time during which a year-long, field-based alternative to the traditional elementary program was operated. (IAH)

A study compared characteristics of two groups of teachers in Victoria (Australia) schools: those teaching in the Disadvantaged Schools Program (n=576) and those in nonprogram schools (n=596). Results indicated the importance of workplace relationships in both groups and pointed to some differences in curriculum, pedagogy, and student…

An approach to college faculty development based on the perceived needs of the faculty is recommended over the traditional faculty development approach for its capacity to accommodate varied needs and changing circumstances. A concerns-based program model in place at Massey University (New Zealand) is offered as illustration. (Author/MSE)

Discusses the integration of insider-managed baseline evaluation into project and program design in educational change processes. Drawing on examples taken from recent experiences of English language teaching projects in Central Europe and China, the benefits of using insider-managed baseline studies are outlined.(Author/VWL)

Implementation costs for comprehensive school change designs (like the New American Schools models) vary widely. This article discusses the rationale and cost of each design element: principals and vice principals, instruction facilitators, classroom teachers, education specialists, struggling student strategies, professional development, teacher…

In "Holding Accountability to Account: How Scholarship and Experience in Other Fields Inform Exploration of Performance Incentives in Education"--a paper presented at the National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference in February--Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, argues educational…

This publication, developed by W.K. Kellogg Foundation in collaboration with IDEO, details a human-centered approach to evolving the system of early education for the needs and possibilities of the 21st century. It provides a set of ideas or "thought-starters" on transforming early education to ensure school readiness and success for the…

To develop the methodology of designing local educational change, the R & D center staff first identified four critical weaknesses leading to the failures of changes attempted in schools. These weaknesses were categorized as (1) change made without prior analysis of its effects on the whole system, (2) change imposed externally without regard to…

The design and success of the Netherlands' new researcher training system are discussed. It is concluded that the system conforms more to the natural sciences model than the social sciences model of professionalization and should adopt a different, more supportive approach to the student. (MSE)

Given the urgency for increased student achievement, it would seem that redesigning principal preparation programs around leadership practices that have an impact on students' learning would be a high priority in every university. Yet, it is not. Despite some movement in some areas, the overall pace of change has been too slow, the changes are not…

Details about mathematics education in China, what changes are underway, and the direction these changes are taking at the middle school level. The curriculum at this level is viewed to be quite demanding. It is felt Americans may ponder the great strides of the Chinese in 25 years. (MP)

Pay for performance is a popular public education reform, and millions of dollars are currently being targeted for pay for performance programs. These reforms are popular because economic and management theories suggest that well-designed incentive pay programs could improve teacher effectiveness. There is little evidence about the characteristics…

In U.S. K-12 public education, incentive pay for educators remains firmly fixed as a high-interest policy topic and has recently become a popular reform initiative in many school systems. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education, is at the forefront of this policy movement and has provided hundreds of…