In June 1993, the European Commission adopted a recommendation on access to continuing vocational training (CVT) in the European Union (EU). EU member states' progress was assessed by reviewing national reports drafted in accordance with an agreed-upon structure. The national reports demonstrated a wide range of new approaches and initiatives for…

This document explains how employers can participate in creating a new workforce investment system that is market driven, comprehensive, portable, accountable, customer focused, responsive, flexible, and customized. The guide details immediate and future steps employers can take at the state and local levels to influence the process of creating a…

Data derived from "Raising Quality and Achievement" development projects, started in 1999 in more than 80 colleges in England led to conclusions about successful strategies to raise achievement and improve retention and about the meaning of college improvement. The projects were described in the form of case studies. A number of…

This study reports on the results of a mail questionnaire administered to 25 tribal community college libraries in 1999, 6 years after "Pathways to Excellence: A Report on Improving Library and Information Services for Native American Peoples" was released. Data obtained from nine respondents, representing 36% of those surveyed, provided…

This dissertation is comprised of three essays exploring the performance of students on standardized tests in public schools. Since the passage of the "No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB) in 2002, public schools have been subject to penalties for poor student achievement. In particular, NCLB requires states to measure reading and math test…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Obama Administration Releases ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] Blueprint: Proposal to Overhaul NCLB [No…

This research paper is about the role of the principal in enabling teacher leadership for pedagogical innovations and school improvement studied in two Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS) schools in Singapore and Australia over a 3-year period from 2005 to 2007. The research reported is based on the developing…

This brief introduces "Community Colleges Broadening Horizons through Service Learning," the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC's) fifth national Learn and Serve America grant project and describes its grantee college programs. The goals of this grant project are to build on established foundations to integrate service…

This article considers the nature of complexity and design, as well as relationships between the two, and suggests that design may have much potential as an approach to improving human performance in situations seen as complex. It is developed against two backgrounds. The first is a world view that derives from second order cybernetics and radical…

The extent to which managers could accurately predict what items/activities their employees report as preferred was examined. First, managers were asked to rank order a list of items/activities they thought their employees would most prefer to be incorporated into a performance improvement plan. Next, employee preference for these same items was…

What will it take to bring about dramatic improvements in the performance of California's education system? The fact is, everyone does not know. California does not know how to collect the kind of educational data that would allow it to accurately measure the performance of schools and students, or to evaluate the effectiveness of different…

Every year, the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program issues a Request for Proposals (RFP) to award funds provided annually from the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In recent years, each RFP has focused on a specific objective tied to state priorities in teacher quality. Six grants were awarded in 2008: (1) Bell Gardens Science…

This report provides a plan that teachers and school supervisors can use to implement seven tips for improving instructional skills. Designed to be referred to regularly, it includes three levels of implementation, as well as recommendations for utilizing technology to support each tip. The seven recommendations include: (1) Use technology to help…

Researchers in the Boston University Department of Environmental Health conducted a case study of the Boston Schoolyard Initiative, a project that provides funds and technical support to community groups dedicated to renovating schoolyards in Boston. Researchers described the process by which the Boston Schoolyard Initiative came into being and…

The lines between academic study and career and technical skills training are blurring. State and national leaders are beginning to recognize the transformational potential career and technical education (CTE) offers for such issues as secondary-postsecondary transitions, remediation, and the drop-out problem. At the national level, the National…