Two elementary teachers teamed up to help colleagues develop classroom strategies to use with children suffering from attention deficit disorders. From a pilot test conducted with other volunteer teachers, they developed a systematic process featuring teacher-request consultation forms, strategy searches, action plans, implementation, and followup…

Inspired by tips from a Motorola Corporation executive, the superintendent of an Illinois district initiated strategic- planning and total-quality practices to improve student performance, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Teachers have also successfully implemented quality and continuous-improvement practices in their classrooms.…

Durham (North Carolina) School of the Arts' transformation in 5 years from a run-down, segregated facility to a highly desirable magnet school is proof that a school accessible to the whole community can succeed. Students are chosen by lottery and are showing appreciable academic growth on state tests. (MLH)

Poised to help legally homeless parents become their children's best teachers, instructors in a Nevada literacy program found that human relationships took precedence over academics. Instructors learned the importance of renaming the program (to avoid association with prior academic failure) and blending literacy activities with hot meals, family…

Discusses a British primary headteacher's attempts to introduce collaborative decision making by establishing regular formal meetings, both as a whole staff and within age-related teams. Describes and interprets the varied, complex patterns of staff response. Teachers are more responsive to collegial leadership styles when they perceive that 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…

Following the legislature's passage of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act, the statewide Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership was established. The 700 graduates form a small cadre of activists who are informed about standards-based reforms and how to make them work for their children. (MLH)

The background to an exciting and probably unique initiative for people with challenging behaviour is described. The Special Projects Team (SPT) was established in the context of increasing knowledge of effective treatment responses, but lack of widespread expertise as well as growing crisis within challenging behaviour services. Unlike previous…

School psychologists are excellent candidates to support school administrations interested in implementing a continuum of effective behavior support. To prevent severe problem behavior, best practice suggests implementing a continuum of effective behavior support which includes primary level prevention procedures, secondary level targeted…

Studies have demonstrated that treatment for drug-involved offenders can reduce relapse and recidivism. However, few institutions utilize validated assessments of drug dependence, limiting the ability to determine and prioritize services. Toward this goal, we explain an assessment method implemented statewide using a sample of 22,069 prisoners.…

In February 2007, First 5 LA contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) and its subcontractors, Juarez and Associates, American Institutes for Research (AIR), and Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research (BEAR) Center, to conduct the First 5 LA/LAUP Universal Preschool Child Outcomes Study (UPCOS). The authors conducted the study…

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…

This article discusses the part-time/Internet-based Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health was the first school of public health in the United States to offer a Master of Public Health program via the Internet. The JHSPH MPH Program…

The Swedish school system comprises: (1) Pre-primary school (Forskola), typical age 1-5; (2) Preschool class in the compulsory school (Grundskola) typical age 6 (participation voluntary); (3) Compulsory school, typical age 7-16, grades 1-9, and (4) Upper secondary school, 17 programmes (4 mainly academic, 13 vocational), typical age 16-19, grades…

Through its Metropolitan Educational Trends and Research Outcomes (METRO) Center, the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) helps school districts implement research-based programs for educationally disadvantaged students. The most prominent of these is Success for All, a nationally recognized school restructuring program. In 1992, SWRL made a…