Rather than promote access, college admissions and financial aid processes often create a series of barriers that the poorest student must overcome to get to college. The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California directed a three-year research initiative,…

As with so many guides for school improvement, the U.S. Department of Education's March 2006 Non-regulatory Guidance document entitled, "Designing Schoolwide Programs," continues to marginalize the essential role of student/learning supports. This brief report analyzes the guidance document with a specific focus on how to ensure Title I schoolwide…

No longer is it appropriate to explain school failure by stating that some children are too disadvantaged to succeed. Schools must find a way to meet the needs of all children and strategies in which school psychologists, working in collaboration with educators and school administrators, can meet these needs are discussed in this paper. It is…

The Regional Educational Laboratory Program is the U.S. Department of Education's largest research-and-development investment designed to help educators, policy makers, and communities improve schools. Administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), the network of 10 regional labs works to ensure that lessons about…

This manual was prepared in response to the overwhelming interest of Head Start staff and other early childhood professionals to presentations of the Parent Involvement Project Intervention at national conferences. The manual presents two strategies designed to help staff better understand and work with parents, especially those perceived to be…

This discussion paper is intended for policy makers, program managers, technical specialists, and others seeking new tools and ideas with which to achieve environmentally sustainable development. Effective techniques from the field of environmental education and communication (EE&C) that can help biodiversity conservationists and program…

This case study examined the process of change employed by a rural Kentucky elementary school identified as having successfully implemented the state's primary program. The main purpose of the study was to analyze how the school implemented the primary program based on characteristics of effective change. The case study was based on a total of 23…

The 1990s saw the outdoor education community undergo a process of critical redefinition as it attempted to address multicultural issues. This digest defines multicultural education, reviews the current status of multicultural diversity in outdoor education, poses questions for researchers and practitioners, and offers suggestions for relevant…

Although permanency planning has been a central focus of child welfare practice since the passage of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act in 1980, new requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 encourage concurrent planning on reunification and another alternative such as adoption. This guide is intended to assist child…

This paper describes the District of Columbia Public School System (DCPS); articulates challenges it faced prior to standards based reform; presents strategies for reforming large urban systems' health and physical education (HPE) programs; and notes strategies for incorporating a standards-based performance-driven model. DCPS reading and math…

This paper begins with a discussion of information management as it pertains to the four operations of automated library systems (i.e., acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, and reference). Library staff reactions to library automation change are summarized, including uncertainty, cynicism, and resignation or hope. Common pitfalls that interfere…

This book examines transformational leadership and explores why such leadership can enhance the work of secondary-school leaders. It focuses on school leadership exercised in restructuring contexts. The text is divided into three parts: (1) the context for changing leadership; (2) transformational school leadership; and (3) beyond transformational…

Parents' use of logical consequences to their children's misbehavior can be an effective component of child rearing. Noting parents' need for a resource providing information on effective consequences, this book discusses the importance and use of consequences as a guidance tool for parents to use with children. The book lists common misbehaviors…

This transcript reproduces a Department of Education\College Board-sponsored discussion on ways to expand advanced-placement (AP) opportunities in high schools. The document contains the comments of panelists and presenters who described promising practices and strategies for preparing students for success, preparing teachers to lead instruction,…

This transcript reproduces a Department of Education/College Board-sponsored discussion on ways to expand advanced-placement (AP) opportunities in high schools. The deliberations opened with a presentation by Terry Peterson, Senior Advisor to Education Secretary Richard Riley, in which he focused on the importance of AP courses for minority and…