In an effort to bring more knowledge about "what works" to educational practitioners, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has made significant investments in developing and disseminating focused, rigorous research projects in order to increase the supply of and demand for this research in educational decision making. These efforts…

The Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of the U.S. Department of Education supports educators and policymakers in their efforts to solve pressing education problems through a network of 10 regional educational laboratories. These regional educational laboratories try out new approaches to teaching and learning; provide training…

This analysis examines regionalism in the educational research, development, and innovation (R/D&I) context with particular concern for its meaning and significance for the National Institute of Education. The purpose of the analysis is to provide an understanding of regionalism that would be of help to R/D&I policy makers. It is intended…

Before a vocational education research and development agenda for the 1980s can be formulated and implemented, a national policy on economic and human resource development should be in place. In its absence, such an agenda must be shared in light of several factors that reflect the current demographic situation and long-range trends, including a…

Through their visits and conversations with students, teachers, and administrators involved in the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) over the past decade, the people at Inverness Research Associates came to believe that ARSI served as an important leadership capacity-building effort for improving mathematics and science education in…

The mission of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) was to build a long-term capacity that would improve the educational structures of the rural communities it served. The major strategy ARSI used to create improvement communities across Appalachia was to identify, embrace and educate individual teachers, who became ARSI Teacher…

In Kentucky, one of the six participating Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) states, the Teacher Partner concept soon gave rise to the Regional Teacher Partners (RTPs). This complementary project, known as the "Master Teacher Project," was designed after the Teacher Partner model but with one key difference. This paper…

This is the story of Barbara Shoemaker and her work as an Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) Teacher Partner in Oneida, Tennessee. It is the story of what she values and the experiences that shaped her approach to education. In particular it is about what she learned from her experience with the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative, and…

Many of the people who live in Knott County today are direct descendants of the early settlers of the region. Today the people of Knott County share an identity that is grounded in the place they and their ancestors called home. Perhaps the public endeavor in which the influence of place is most evident is education. In Knott County education has…