This report outlines the characteristics that appear to make the process of action research effective in improving student outcomes and summarizes some strategies that practitioners believe can be transferred using the process. Part 1 describes the process followed by the successful projects and shares the insights they gained. Characteristics…

The education criteria presented in this guide are designed to help organizations use an integrated approach to organizational performance management that results in delivery of ever-improving value to students and stakeholders. Implementation of the criteria will contribute to improvement of education quality, improvement of overall…

This book describes a study of 10 inner city schools in the United Kingdom which showed how the empathy and imagination of teachers and principals, as well as culturally relevant curricula and stimulating teaching, helped enable bilingual students to achieve. The first part of the book describes the main issues: what counts as achievement for…

In an effort to assess what progress states and localities are making in implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, a study identified three issues of particular concern: (1) mandatory partners' participation in the one-stops; (2) job seekers' ability to receive enhanced choices for training; and (3) private-sector participation…

This book focuses on the how-to of developing Professional Development Schools (PDSs) without external funding, challenges of developing such partnerships, and benefits of PDSs to schools and universities. The nine chapters are: (1) "Creating a New Institution" (Nate Essex, Vivian Gunn Morris, Marty M. Harrison, and Fred Johnson); (2)…

Two decades ago, the State of Texas began a set of groundbreaking reforms that made performance-based accountability the centerpiece of its public education system. Texans should be proud of this progress. But now, twenty years later, Texas must meet a new set of challenges to continue its success in educating all children at the highest…

Highly qualified teachers and administrators are in high demand. Too often the challenge is not simply preparing more teachers and administrators, but preparing the teachers and administrators we have. The overall quality of teachers and administrators is misunderstood and misdirected. Do states have a sufficient surplus of teachers and…

Clinical supervision is an ongoing series of professional development cycles through which preservice and beginning teachers move from being apprentices at induction and probationary levels to being members of peer evaluation teams and self-reflective practitioners. Development of collaboration between field experience offices and local school…

This report presents the results of two years of work by a 12-member task force which surveyed faculty and administrators at 51 universities regarding their opinions about the importance and stature of teaching as the central role of the university. Over 800 questionnaires were returned, with one from the provost at each institution and the rest…

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention for increasing student engagement in learning to improve academic success. The targeted population consisted of students in four separate schools: pre-kindergarten and eighth graders in a large metropolitan area and fifth and eighth graders in a rural community. The lack of…

This final report contains a history and description of a project called New Designs for the Two-Year Institution of Higher Education (NDTYI). The goal of NDTYI was to begin an earnest search for synergies that will better connect educational institutions with the culture in ways that create resources and multiply desired results. NDTYI focused on…

This book examines how a relationship between the University of Vermont and school districts throughout the state enables teachers to earn graduate credits through year-long Problem-Based School Development Institutes. The institutes take participants through a cycle that includes identifying a problem, conducting background and action research,…

This study examined whether context and other variables differentiated between improving and stable Louisiana schools. Participating were principals of 124 improving and 124 stable schools, with a final response rate to a mail survey of 69 percent. The School Improvement Survey, developed for this study, assessed six areas: (1) demographic and…

An exploratory, longitudinal study was undertaken to investigate how student self-assessment, course evaluation, and student evaluation of teaching can be incorporated into university second language instruction. Three issues were addressed: whether students evaluate themselves differently in first, second, and third year classes in the same…

SchoolNet is a Canadian national program designed to link electronically 300 schools in order to provide access to communications and information technology. Thirty schools in Alberta were selected as pilot sites to develop projects in science, mathematics, or technology which could use resources that enhance student learning experiences. The…