About three-fourths of the states have already adopted the Common Core State Standards, which were designed to provide more clarity about and consistency in what is expected of student learning across the country. However, given the brief time since the standards' final release in June, questions persist among educators, who will have the…

Kentucky is no stranger to education reform, having worked for the better part of 20 years on raising standards to improve student achievement. In 2009, the Kentucky General Assembly called for more rigorous standards to address high school graduates' college and career readiness. So when the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief…

Five years ago, Hewetson Elementary School was rated one of the lowest performing schools in Nevada. Yet despite its many challenges, Hewetson was named an Exemplary Turn Around School for the 2009-2010 school year, the highest academic designation for Nevada schools. This success is the result of transforming the school from a low-achieving…

Schools in Los Angeles County, Chattanooga, Boston, and San Diego have established family centers offering space (a room, bus, or neighborhood apartment) where family members can meet with parent leaders and school staff to plan and implement programs and partnerships. Varied purposes, activities, funding, and staffing are discussed. (MLH)

Describes and evaluates six common and/or empirically validated school-based substance-abuse programs, including Here's Looking At You, 2000; Developing Understanding of Self and Others (DUSO); Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE); Growing Healthy; QUEST; and Social Decision Making--Social Problem Solving. QUEST had all 11 key program elements;…

A Tucson, Arizona elementary school is one of 45 development sites for the Toyota Families in Schools Program, which brings in parents to learn alongside their children and in their own classrooms for 4 hours daily. Parents also receive vocational instruction aligned with local job opportunities. (MLH)

CoZi, an acronym combining the names of child psychiatrist James Comer and developmental child psychologist Edward Zigler, is a reform initiative to ensure children's success through various systems working together: the family, the school, child care, and the health system. Integrating services fundamentally changes the school's mission and the…

Community schools come in all shapes and sizes, offering wide-ranging support and opportunities for children, families, and the greater community. Elementary principals from several rural and urban community schools explain how close-knit community partnerships created campuses that involved parents, energized teachers, and enhanced children's…

In the midnineties, Albuquerque Public Schools developed an Extra Support for Principals initiative-a voluntary support program that respects participants' time constraints and schedules only three activities during the year. Both experienced and mentored principals value the program, which keeps more beginning administrators on the job. (MLH)

The Santa Clara (CA) transition project is a collaborative effort between the county's Head Start program and a San Jose school district. The program provides teacher training, transition activities, developmentally appropriate practices, comprehensive family services, and parent involvement opportunities. During 1994-95, the project is working…

"Principal for a Day" is a program that provides students with an opportunity to work alongside the principal. Easily implemented, the program can encourage participation in school events and activities and help recognize and reward students. Ways to structure the day and involve the media are outlined. (MLH)

Explains the three approaches to foreign language teaching: immersion, Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES), and Foreign Language Experience (FLEX). Presents notable current examples of the use of each type of approach throughout the country that suggest that language teaching is reviving. (JM)

Because student misbehavior on school buses can endanger the driver, other students, motorists, and pedestrians, schools are considering technological solutions, such as mounted video cameras. The cameras deter misbehavior and help administrators detect inappropriate activities and determine appropriate action. Program implementation is…

Describes a principal's frustrating, but ultimately successful 3-year effort to convert a Virginia elementary school to a year-round schedule. Now in its third year, the school boasts students with higher standardized test scores, better attendance, and fewer discipline referrals than their traditional-calendar counterparts. (MLH)

To support first-year teacher development, the Jefferson County (Alabama) School District initiated an innovative mentoring program called Teaching Excellence Can Actually Happen (TEACH). The program provides full-time mentoring by highly qualified colleagues, a free two-year master's degree program, technology training and laptop computers,…