Designed to help parents and teachers think beyond the ordinary ways in which parent-family involvement in education is considered and approached, this book describes 34 operational parent-family involvement programs in preschools and in elementary, middle, and high schools. It also describes programs run by school districts and communities. Among…

This publication explores the relationship between state systemic reform initiatives and state student assessment programs using a database established by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and interviews with state assessment directors in California, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, and Vermont. States throughout the country are…

As a result of a Technology Retreat sponsored by the Maricopa Community Colleges (Arizona) in 1988, action/research groups were formed to explore the various challenges of implementing instructional technology effectively. This interim report reviews the work of the groups, with a summary report from each, as follows: (1) "Alternative Funding…

In 1985, Kingsborough Community College (KCC), in Brooklyn, established the New Start Program to assist students who began their postsecondary education at senior colleges, but encountered academic difficulties there. New Start applicants are admitted to KCC as matriculants in good academic standing. They take regular courses and are expected to…

This report, the seventh in a series, summarizes information taken from a variety of ongoing and special studies about education in Utah. The first type of information deals with students' academic achievements and aptitudes. This category includes results from the American College Testing Program, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Preliminary…

In 1989, a long-term partnership began between International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation and the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to form Project A+ (later named the A+ Coalition), a program designed to be a catalyst for educational improvement by identifying fundamental changes needed to enhance education and to marshal community…

This report presents recommendations resulting from a study of current and future workforce preparation needs in Illinois. A special committee held 8 meetings and 10 hearings across the state and examined background reports on national and state labor conditions, existing job training services, and public, private, and proprietary education…

This manual is designed to support community organizations, concerned educators, and parents as they work to improve local public schools on behalf of immigrant students. Each chapter focuses on central elements of quality schooling from the perspective of the young immigrant. Within each chapter, an analysis of current conditions prevalent in…

This volume offers 19 papers by college faculty on concrete information and suggestions for the improvement of college teaching, student learning, and the whole education process. The titles and authors are: (1) "Rethinking College Instruction for a Changing World" (Diane F. Halpern); (2) "Inquiry as a Tool in Critical…

The impact of an outreach program modeled after the Berkeley Bay Area Writing Project was studied. Both projects emphasize the role of expert teachers as teacher trainers for the purpose of improving student writing. The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) program targets teachers of traditionally underserved students. Data sources…

The Oregon vision for transforming science education is called concept/process-based science. It is not a program but a conceptual framework which presents goals for the direction of science program development. It focuses science programs on helping students develop basic scientific understandings through the use of the key processes of human…

Some of the issues faced by institutions as they attempt to design a system of constructs that reflects the diversity of their schools are addressed. The choice of statistic, percentage passing versus mean, used in reporting test results can impact the allocation of services to subpopulations in the school. Percent passing statistics tend to focus…

This study examined current initiatives related to adult literacy in Canada. A literature search, interviews with government personnel, telephone surveys, faxed questionnaires, and interviews with key individuals were used to assess four kinds of initiatives (teaching/learning opportunities, support to programs, policy development, and…

This report looks back over a decade and tracks changes in high school course-taking. It partially updates a 1989 report titled "What Americans Study" and includes some information on instructional emphasis in mathematics and on additional topics related to course taking. These topics include differences among gender, racial, and ethnic…

A North Carolina study examined the problem of adult illiteracy in Spring 1988. Secondary data for the service areas of eight community colleges chosen as study sites indicated that approximately 25 percent of North Carolinans aged 25 years and older had completed less than the ninth grade in 1980 and the majority of them were unemployed. A review…