This study is a collaborative teaching/learning pedagogy that offers an alternative teaching approach to curriculum development for early childhood education in an effort to explore how to best teach a child in English language arts classroom. This study, based on Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 established a requirement that all states develop and submit to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) a performance plan designed to advance the state from its current level of compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the law…

This handbook provides information about the school system in the United States and Illinois. Nine chapters discuss the following issues: (1) "United States School System" (e.g., how schools are organized and what kinds of schools exist); (2) "Enrolling in School" (e.g., how to enroll a child and what medical forms and…

This paper reports on Children Achieving, a systemic reform program implemented in 1995 to improve the Philadelphia public schools. Children Achieving was the first attempt by an urban district to test systemic reform in practice. The first part of the report discusses the beliefs and values of the program's action-design component, which…

This brief paper presents initial findings midway through the first year of implementing a school-based model of providing mental health services to children and families living in urban, low-income communities and provided by community-based mental health providers. The model emphasizes the central role of ecological factors in childhood conduct…

This brochure provides several tips for families and for community members to help them encourage student achievement and success. The tips are grouped into three categories: (1) "Help our children read well and independently by the end of third grade"; (2) "Help our children learn to meet high math and science standards and take challenging math…

This Spanish-language brochure provides several tips for families and for community members to help them encourage student achievement and success. The tips are grouped into three categories: (1) "Help our children read well and independently by the end of third grade"; (2) "Help our children learn to meet high math and science standards and take…

Big school districts promised to hold down costs by centralizing functions under one roof and delivering a greater selection of academic offerings and activities, thus improving education. But they have not delivered. Up to a certain size, consolidation can save costs, but above that size, districts experience "diseconomies of scale,"…

This fourth in a four-part series on why academic achievement gaps exist describes the Minority Achievement Committee scholars program at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio, a powerful antidote to the achievement gap between minority and white and Asian American students. It explains the need to break down stereotypes about academic…

This document strives to answer questions about school choice, such as What does school choice mean?, What does school choice look like?, and What are the likely consequences of giving parents greater voice in their children's education? Reports are grouped into three thematic chapters. In chapter 1, "Public-Public Choice," reports include:…

This bulletin presents basic information for parents about identification and services for gifted students in Pennsylvania. Written in a question and answer format, the bulletin addresses the following concerns: the Individualized Education Program (IEP) required for all exceptional students in the state; the multi-disciplinary evaluation process;…

This booklet showcases findings from a new analysis of data from "Family Involvement in Education: A National Portrait," and provides a checklist for parents to assess their own school on issues of family involvement. The study was conducted in May and June of 1997 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Key…

The Indicators Project on Education Organizing was designed to examine the role of community organizing in school reform. For over 2 years, researchers documented the education organizing of five urban groups. This report presents an education organizing indicators framework that highlights strategies and accomplishments of education organizing.…

This report describes Austin, Texas' Austin Interfaith, which connects community institutions that can support families (e.g., schools, congregations, and civic organization) and builds the capacity of family members to participate fully in the economic system. Viewing schools as key neighborhood institutions, Austin Interfaith works directly with…

Because the District of Columbia (DC) is a federal district, its governance is peculiar. The DC public school system is plagued by poor management, internal strife, unstable leadership, low student achievement, shrinking enrollment, and declining community confidence. During the 1960s, Mayor Barry and the civil rights-home rule movement brought…