In recent years, low background rumblings have been heard in the land of education and training--rumblings that are getting louder each day. These are the sounds of the learning world discovering what Internet professionals working in other market sectors have known for years: The "digital breadcrumbs" that learners leave behind about their…

This article illustrates the application of the Impact Evaluation Process for the design of a performance measurement and evaluation framework for an urban high school. One of the key aims of this framework is to enhance decision-making by providing timely feedback about the effectiveness of various performance improvement interventions. The…

As the focus on student success and completion intensifies on campus, community college leaders know the only way to stay viable is to change the culture of their institutions. With state and federal coffers in perpetual free fall, that means leveraging existing resources to spur reforms. Some colleges have attempted to do this through the…

An existing facility that is being upgraded or retrofitted today typically is 30 to 45 years old, often with limited natural light, antiquated mechanical systems and retrofitted technology. All too often at the outset of a project, the broader project goals--and even those narrower in scope--seem daunting or altogether impossible when staring at a…

This paper presents a systems approach based on the work of W. Edwards Deming, an alternative to the all purpose "We need more money" solution. A bibliography is included.

In this report, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), in collaboration with National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) from North Carolina, offer a set of TeacherSolutions on how to improve practices and policies for teaching and learning in 21st century schools. This cadre of classroom experts offer their best thinking on some of today's most…

"Using Comic Art to Improve Speaking, Reading and Writing" uses children's interest in pictures, comics and graphic novels as a way of developing their creative writing abilities, reading skills and oracy. The book's underpinning strategy is the use of comic art images as a visual analogue to help children generate, organise and refine their ideas…

Each year, under the federal program called Supplemental Educational Services (SES), the Baltimore City Public School System (City Schools) pays educational vendors millions of public dollars to tutor thousands of its poorest students in its lowest achieving schools. Established in 2002 by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, SES was created to…

In this article, the author describes the "History as Story" project that has become important to the Annunciation Orthodox School (AOS) and the teachers in many ways. Patience, persistence, and quiet support of individual teachers' projects demonstrated the breadth of possibility if they would collaborate with the school librarian. Teachers do…

Districts are an important unit for administrative purposes, but they vary little in their impact on students' attainment, at least in the UK. Further, government attempts to raise attainment are often disappointing. The project described in this article aimed to engage schools in reform to change students' attainment and attitudes in schools…

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans public schools bear little resemblance to the disintegrating system that was further undone by the catastrophic flood. Two-thirds of city schools in 2004 were rated "Academically Unacceptable" under Louisiana's accountability standards; in 2010, about 4 in 10 rate that designation, and…

After providing technical assistance to the federal Smaller Learning Community Program grantees, the authors developed five lessons for successful programs: 1) A strong vision of improved instruction needs to drive high school reorganization; 2) A strong vision of improved instruction focuses on strengthening the instructional core; 3)…

High school students with emotional disturbances (ED) often struggle with classroom writing tasks. In this study, the effectiveness of Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) instruction for 10 min timed persuasive quick writes with three high school students with ED was investigated. Results indicated improvement in the areas of quality,…

A mentoring relationship that began as part of teacher preparation can evolve into a professional community that stays connected through several means of communication. While there are examples of mentoring relationships within schools and among former university cohorts, these authors took a slightly different approach. Rather than forming a…

Buildings consume approximately 40 percent of the energy used in the U.S., and efficiency is widely recognized to be the most effective means for containing demand and reducing use. Institutions of higher education make up a significant proportion of building area and annual energy and facility-related costs in the United States. The national…