By interviewing parents and reviewing letters of complaint, Camp Hy-Lake (Tennessee) identified six conditions/outcomes parents expected of a good camp experience. By providing those conditions the camp improved its camper return rate from 60 to 80% in approximately two years and increased camper returns from two to three and a half years. (JHZ)

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) joined hands in 2005 to enhance dramatically implementation of the "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") improvement design in the state. Between 2005 and 2010, nearly 50 high schools in five cohorts joined the Texas Enhanced "HSTW" Network…

In this article, the focus is on task construction and the importance of this process to develop and promote classroom communication in mathematics. The students' tests, examination of students' mathematical work, the teachers' lesson plans, and reports of the lessons' instructions are the basic data for this article. The analysis indicated that…

This mixed-methods study examines middle school students' academic language development in the context of a year-long professional development project titled, Developing Content Area Academic Language (DCAAL). The purpose of DCAAL was to partner middle school teachers (n = 8) with a team of university researchers to explore how to integrate…

The objective of this article is to describe the successes and challenges of a unique knowledge mobilization initiative that was funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This initiative focused on promoting knowledge mobilization by increasing the capacity of child welfare organizations in Ontario to conduct…

This article explores the application of Whitaker, King, and Vogel's (2004) best practices for the implementation of partnerships regarding school leadership preparation programs in 3 school district-university collaboratives located in urban settings with large minority student populations. The 3 partnerships studied include the Nashville…

In our session, we showcase work from a researcher-practitioner partnership between James Madison University, the University of Virginia, and Harrisonburg City Public Schools that is focused on developing a continuous improvement process to translate social-psychological interventions into teaching practices that enhance motivation and learning.…

This is the fourth report of a process evaluation of Palm Beach County Prime Time, Inc., an intermediary organization dedicated to improving the quality of afterschool programs, by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. It covers the 2007-2008 program year, which was the inaugural year of Prime Time's formal Quality Improvement System (QIS)…

This study explores the efforts at Brigham Young University to improve preservice candidates' technology integration using the Teacher Work Sample (TWS) as an assessment tool. Baseline data that was analyzed from 95 TWSs indicated that students were predominantly using technology for productivity and information presentation purposes even though…

High-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs have a positive effect on youth development, but many cities have found it difficult to address the challenges of expanding and improving the quality of programs offered to underserved and high-need students. In response, The Wallace Foundation sponsored an initiative to help five cities increase…

In a series of New Jersey Supreme Court decisions known as Abbott v. Burke, the 28 (now 31) urban school districts serving the state's poorest students were ordered to create systems of high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. The Abbott Preschool Program now serves approximately…

Introduction: Little is known regarding how to accomplish large-scale health care improvement. Our goal is to improve the quality of chronic disease care in all primary care practices throughout North Carolina. Methods: Methods for improvement include (1) common quality measures and shared data system; (2) rapid cycle improvement principles; (3)…

Background/Context: Community colleges are central to the United States' college completion goals. A popular strategy pushed by a number of influential policy organizations and foundations is a policy of tying state funding to community college completions, otherwise known simply as performance funding. This is happening despite little to no…

In today's rapidly changing global economy, "21st century skills" means much more than proficiency in basic academic subjects. One of the most important noncognitive competencies for student success is conscientiousness, which encompasses traits such as perseverance, self-regulation, resilience, and responsibility. Researchers have found…

Most special education administrators do not get the chance to network regularly with professional peers to discuss job challenges and strategies. School-district special education directors routinely juggle complex, difficult, time-consuming, and emotion-laden job demands, but when things get tough, they usually find themselves solving problems…