Drug use trends change rapidly among youth, leaving educators and researchers struggling to respond promptly. Widely adopted universal evidence-based interventions (EBIs), such as the Michigan Model for Health™ (MMH), and their delivery systems offer an opportunity to reach large youth populations and reduce the onset and escalation of emerging…

A domestic credit union engages in a systematic performance improvement plan to better leverage a technical application within its organization. By engaging stakeholders early in the process, standardizing the organization's nomenclature, and building strategic partnerships, the credit union was able to achieve both quantitative and qualitative…

On July 24 and 25, 2012, members of the Task Force on Admissions in the 21st Century gathered in Reston, Virginia, to discuss the progress made by the implementation team in addressing action items from the Task Force's Preserving the Dream of America 2008 report; the current environment for admission; and actions to be taken to further the task…

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) Education Policy, (the Policy) effective November 2018, guides Agency-wide investments in education and is the primary source of direction for all education programming. The Policy outlines key principles and priority areas that are critical to supporting countries on their journey to…

The development of a school improvement plan (SIP) has become an integral part of many school reform efforts. However, there are almost no studies that empirically examine the effectiveness of SIPs. The few studies examining the planning activities of organizations have generally focused on the private sector and have not provided clear or…

The purpose of this research was to determine how teachers and administrators in a successful North Carolina district perceived the purpose and value of a school improvement plan (SIP) and the planning process. The SIP is the accepted best practice for school-wide improvement, and the perceptions of the purpose and value of the process…

To create and maintain continual improvement, school leaders must set goals, create strategies to reach the goals, and use checklists and rubrics in combination with regular communication between the district office and schools to ensure that everyone is staying on track. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2018 through 2022 describes the focus and direction of OIG's operations over the next five years, establishes their organizational goals, and outlines the strategies they will employ to reach those goals and the measures they will use to…

Districts and schools are receiving once in a life-time funding through the American Recovery Plan (ARP) to address the learning needs of students over the next few years, especially those who have been most impacted by a year of remote or hybrid learning. State education agencies (SEAs) including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, outlying…

The Obama administration has offered states the chance to waive some requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. States are required, however, to make specific reforms in exchange for increased flexibility. The administration has been clear it wants states to engage in "ambitious but achievable" reforms rather than merely asking for a pass from…

Just what is meant by a "Best Practice"? A best practice is a procedure, a process, or a system, adopted by best performing districts, which has a noticeable long-term positive impact on the strategic objectives of the Procurement organization. The concept of "best practices" is a fluid one. As technology, regulations and…

APPA's highest institutional honor, the Award for Excellence (AFE) in Facilities Management, recognizes those educational institutions whose facilities management organizations demonstrate quality in overall operations and effectiveness. Fewer than 40 institutions have received this distinct honor. The Award for Excellence is based on a set of…

This Annual Plan presents the major initiatives and priorities the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's taxpayers and students. The Department will face several challenges in FY 2021; perhaps most significant among…

Instructional strategies aimed at improving achievement of low performing student subgroups in need of support were selected by the District Improvement Advisory Committee, so that WCPSS could exit District Improvement status. Impact of each initiative, which often included teacher training and coaching is examined in this implementation report.…

This Annual Plan presents the major initiatives and priorities the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's taxpayers and students. The Department continues to face significant challenges in FY 2020 that impact its…