Preliminary findings of a study that identified characteristics of federally funded change agent programs are presented in this paper. The study examined four federal change agent programs: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title III, Innovative Projects; ESEA Title VII, Bilingual Projects; Vocational Education Act, Part D, Exemplary…

This document outlines the goals and procedures of the Side by Side program, through which the business department at Springdale (Arkansas) High School provides word processing training and computer lab access to students enrolled in courses offered by other departments. The first section describes the procedures for enrolling students in the…

This compilation explains the Strategic Reading Project (SRP), a long-term staff development project for schools committed to improving their students' ability to read strategically. Noting that the SRP has been designed for elementary schools, the compilation points out that the project is adaptable to high schools. The Project Team Notebook in…

Integrating computer-based communication into the delivery of a course is not a simple task, but it need not be a daunting one. With conscientious planning, coordination with institutional resources, preparation of training materials, and flexible responses to student learning, an instructor can readily succeed. Concerns and problems encountered…

This guide provides information about an 8-day outdoor education experience required for third-year teacher education majors at Northern Illinois University (NIU). The residential program is held at the Lorado Taft Field Campus of NIU. The guide addresses the values of outdoor education and the benefits for both teachers and students. General…

This paper provides additional guidance to states in the form of supplemental questions and answers to facilitate the development of policy for service delivery areas (SDAs) and other subrecipients of funding under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Amendments, which took effect on July 1, 1993. Topics covered are the following: definitions,…

An approach to research that was conceptualized with the idea of replicating one study in dozens of locations simultaneously is described, focusing on two research projects with simultaneous replication. In 1988 researchers in 85 locations collected data in 276 schools as part of the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Schools At Risk. In 1982, data were…

This revised edition provides information about Florida's Gold Seal Vocational Endorsement and Scholarship program. The booklet includes the following: (1) general program information, including information on eligible vocational program areas, program eligibility requirements, Gold Seal endorsement program requirements, competency testing, course…

This "ERIC Digest" considers the U.S. charter-school movement, which has produced about 800 schools in half the states and enrolls over 100,000 students. Charter schools reflect founders' varied philosophies and commit to achieve certain educational outcomes within a certain period, in exchange for waiving many restrictive regulations.…

This technical aid packet consists of four sections. The introduction, "Why Use Volunteers," concedes that volunteers are not the answer to the fact that schools have too few resources to do the big jobs they face, but it argues that volunteers can play an important role in helping schools do much more to address barriers to learning. The second…

The paper looks at traditional curriculum implementation strategies, claiming that they have been divided into two polarized perspectives: fidelity implementation and adaptive implementation. These two implementation perspectives have dominated contemporary curriculum textbooks. The paper suggests that curriculum implementation as a field of study…

This paper summarizes activities associated with school-improvement projects in 12 Louisiana School Effectiveness and Assistance Pilot Study (SEAP) Cohort One schools during school year 1997-98 and plans for future improvement activities in 1998-99. Faculty and administrators at each school were asked to revise their current school-improvement…

Over the past few years, charter schools have received dramatic popular support. An overview of charter schools, including the arguments of their supporters and critics, is presented in this report. The text presents assumptions about the charter movement and discusses their strengths and weaknesses through a research-based synthesis. Advocates of…

An overview of school-based management (SBM) and the issues involved are provided in this document. Information is offered on the following topics: the advantages and liabilities of SBM; its effect on the roles of the school board, superintendent, and district office; decision-making processes; elements of SBM implementation; examples of three…

Findings from a study that examined the role of the principal and effects of the principal's change facilitator style (CFS) on the institutionalization of intervention programs are presented in this paper. Subjects were 13 principals involved in Project Link, a Pennsylvania-granted collaborative project to train prereferral child study teams.…