The changing demands of the 21st century--and the students growing up in it--are generating fundamental challenges to historical assumptions about what education looks like. The challenge today is to provide a deeper level of personalized learning to each and every student so that all can achieve mastery of the Common Core standards and other…

What does it take to improve a school? What kinds of programs, systems, and people need to be in place for educational outcomes to improve overall? These and other questions continue to vex policymakers who--along with researchers, reformers, and advocates--pour over data and case studies looking for tools to transform schools into places where…

What is service-learning and how can students and community benefit from it? With the pressure of covering all of the content, passing tests, meeting standards and making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), how is it realistically feasible to make learning more meaningful so that students are able to take it and utilize it in real life? There is no…

This article examines major trends in testing and accountability reform in the United States over the past decade. The review covers the apex and decline of the national experimentation with a range of alternative assessments and the rise of test-based accountability as a central policy initiative. These trends signify that testing has become a…

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

Based on the bestselling book "Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning", and its companion volume, "Data Wise in Action", this DVD and Facilitator's Guide offer insight into one of the most challenging steps in capturing data about school performance: observing and analyzing instructional…

This book presents a series of readings prepared for college teachers. Its chapters provide first-person accounts of teaching strategies that have been successfully employed at Northwestern University. Each chapter offers a unique perspective on teaching by an individual credited with exceptional skill in his craft. Contributors were selected…

Renewed interest in the education of young adolescents has given credence to the "elemiddle" school approach to teaching and learning, which was first documented 15 years ago when David Hough coined the term. Yet much bias, misunderstanding and misinterpretation accompanies the most recent phenomenon compelling schools nationwide to…

After reviewing literature on the effect that varying instructional activities has on student achievement, this document describes an inservice program designed to help teachers develop skill in varying activities, an aspect of Domain I in the Texas Teacher Appraisal System. Information provided includes: (1) alternative resources; (2) time…

This paper focuses on educational services that attempt to contribute to the quality of life of students with intellectual disabilities. It addresses, from an Australian perspective, the areas of special educational facilities and their educational function, policy and curriculum, teaching strategies, integration, and parent role. (JDD)

This article describes an innovation that embraces elements of both technical and professional models of school improvement within the elementary division of a large school system. Emphasis is on development of the reciprocal learning instructional strategy for teaching academic content in regular classrooms and enhancing teachers' adoption and…

"Count Us in: Achieving Success for Deaf Pupils" is a timely report. It comes when schools are becoming more confident in dealing with a wide range of additional support for learning needs. Schools are also more aware that they need to personalise experiences in order to meet pupils' learning needs. The report does point to strengths…

The INNOV database was created as part of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) program to collect, analyze and promote successful basic education projects in the developing world, and this report lists innovations in the field. It is divided into sections of project reports in three major geographical…

This study contributes to the field by identifying a broad range of traditional and newer middle grade policies and practices, and determining in California which of these differentiate higher- from lower-performing schools serving similar student populations, with performance measured by the state's standards-based tests. Based on a sample of 303…

In the 2008-09 school year researchers from EdSource and Stanford University conducted a large-scale study of 303 middle grades schools in California. The team surveyed 303 principals, 3,752 English Language Arts (ELA) and math teachers in grades 6-8, and 157 superintendents of the districts and charter management organizations that oversee the…