Local educational reform efforts involving school systems, higher education, and the community must address educational pipelines through college and systemic deterrents like health, stress, and violence. A sense of moral imperative will bind collaborators in a new spirit of cohesiveness and community. Educational reform efforts in Birmingham…

Examines textbook-test alignment in the social studies curriculum. Defines alignment as review items conceptually and contextually matching test items. Indicates research that shows critically low alignment levels between review and test items, providing examples from a fifth grade textbook. Outlines five steps by which teachers can develop…

The author begins this article by relating the experiences of her fourth-grade students who had just completed an intensive four-week project that involved crafting arguments to convince their local school board to allow a field trip to the Missouri state capitol so they could explore their state's government in person and in depth. Just one year…

In this article, the authors describe various rationales for accountability testing programs over the past century. This history forms the backdrop for current test-driven reforms, including Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which was signed into law in January 2002. The goals of the authors are first, to illustrate…

Current national efforts at education reform rely largely on the use of standardized testing, the cornerstone of federal education policy as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, with its requirements for regular testing of all students and demonstrations of adequate yearly progress on tests by all schools. The challenges…

Education in both England and the United States has undergone a profound change over the last two decades as part of neo-liberal and neoconservative political reforms. The reforms have been characterized by efforts to standardize the curriculum, to implement standardized tests in order to hold students, teachers, and schools accountable, to…

Practices for improving adolescent literacy--which includes reading, writing, and speaking--are much discussed and debated among secondary school educators and researchers. At Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, the debate has ended after teachers and administrators implemented several practices that elevated student achievement from…

This annual journal contains nine articles dealing with business education in Louisiana and elsewhere. The articles "Word Processing Competencies: Which Ones Are Really Necessary?" (Patricia Lynn Anderson, Mary Alice Griffin) and "English Basics Were Developed in Shorthand--Why Not in Keyboarding?" (Clora Mae Baker, Marcia A.…

Recommendations of the Maryland Task Force on Gifted and Talented Education concerning the current status and future needs of gifted and talented education are presented. Recommendations are offered concerning the following issues: appropriate recognition of giftedness and services for all gifted and talented students, world-class curricular…

This study sought to demonstrate that Michigan middle-grades schools can become more effective learning environments for young adolescents. A total of 224 Michigan schools participated in a teacher and administrator survey, 101 of which also conducted student surveys, reaching over 45,600 students in the fifth to ninth grades. Part 1, "Early…

The book discusses in detail a variety of practical and theoretical issues in identifying and addressing second language learning problems. Intended primarily for classroom teachers working with late teenagers or adults, it focuses on learning styles, affective factors, and learning strategies. Real and composite case studies are presented…

Based on the National Communication Skills Modules taught at the TAFE (Technical and Further Education) level in Australia, this book is designed to enhance written and oral business communication skills. It covers interpersonal skills, teamwork, and presentation skills in six chapters on the following topics: workplace communication, writing…

In 1995, efforts to develop Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system focused on implementing Australia's first national strategy for VET, Towards a Skilled Australia. All stakeholders in VET worked to advance Australia's national strategy for VET, which revolved around the following four themes: responsiveness (maximizing…

This annual performance report describes accomplishments achieved in Colorado through funding from the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. Four sections focus on four categories of initiatives. Section I addresses enhancement of services to students through the basic state grant under Title II, Part A. Vocational education opportunities are…

This document consists of all six issues of the "Journal of Research for School Executives" published before it was discontinued. The spring 1991 issue includes four research articles and one essay on employee discipline, school reform, experiences of state departments of education in school/college collaboration, legal aspects of…