Partnerships between schools and out-of-school organizations (museums, zoos, nature centers, etc.) have been shown to improve the educational experiences for both students and teachers. In this article, we report on the experiences we have documented as a nature center through our active involvement in school partnerships. Our partnerships with…

The use of English to teach content subjects has been a growing trend in many parts of the world. It is labelled in a variety of ways, such as content-based learning, content and language integrated learning, immersion education, theme-based language teaching, and bilingual education, but it is referred to in this paper as English-medium…

As more K-12 students with disabilities enroll in online courses, virtual schools and programs are working to make courses accessible through stronger course design. When course designers approach the issue of accessibility, they must comply with legal requirements and mitigate the challenges many students with disabilities face for literacy and…

This brief explores the costs of developing and implementing Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) in order to help Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grantees interested in adopting SLOs anticipate and understand the costs of implementing them in a district or school. The brief focuses on the costs involved with the initial design and implementation of an…

This report presents the results of a thorough study conducted by American Institutes for Research (AIR) to investigate the cost of providing an "adequate" education to California students attending public elementary, middle, and high schools. The study addresses the following question: "What is the cost of providing all California…

This guidebook will help the staff members of education agencies gain an understanding of what Education Enterprise Architecture (EEA) is and how it can help an agency accomplish its vision and goals. The audiences for this guidebook include agency staff already charged with leading agency-wide planning and implementation that encompasses the…

In response to mounting concerns about the cost of college, lawmakers have proposed major new partnerships between the federal government and states to tackle college affordability. The Education Trust maintains that any new federal-state proposal aimed at making college more affordable must also simultaneously address completion problems by…

This document contains the following nine appendixes of the main report, "What Does It Cost to Educate California's Students? A Professional Judgment Approach. Technical Report. Getting Down to Facts II": (1) Professional Judgement Panel General Instructions; (2) Professional Judgement Panel. Task Instructions; (3) School Resource…

When programs or projects involve a complexity of personnel and activities, it often becomes an administrator's headache to keep the program on course. Some type of program operational guide (often referred to as work plans or management manuals) should be developed to assist program staff with management of the implementation process. An analysis…

This report describes a practicum project that attempted to develop a management by objectives (MBO) model appropriate for use in the Newington (Connecticut) public school system and to train selected Newington administrators in the use of this management system. The Newington MBO model was designed to cope with a number of existing problems in…

This publication describes the Highland Superintendency Team Assessment Program, an effort to apply the principles of management by objectives to the evaluation of school district administrative personnel. Section 1 presents the basic rationale and goals of the assessment program and explains the concept of "educational leadership by objectives"…

A merit pay plan can be successful if it contains unified and agreed upon objectives, integration and expansion of present key tasks, and endorsement and involvement of the entire educational staff. The responsibility of developing appropriate goals rests with the board of education, while the responsibility of documenting voluntary participation…

This guide outlines a model for competency-based education (CBE) as well as procedures for administration of CBE programs. The model includes the following elements--publicly determined and displayed student learning outcomes, curricular changes, life role related outcomes, integrated learning experiences, and individualized instruction.…

This program development handbook is part of a statewide effort to develop and implement an Arizona Competency Based Guidance Program model for Arizona school districts. Part 1, the Overview, includes an introduction to competency-based guidance, followed by the mission statement of the Arizona Department of Education regarding guidance and the…