This paper describes a model for connecting the constructs underlying strong Professional Development Schools (PDS) with the infusion of standards-based technology; a model that can be replicated cost effectively and efficiently for both schools and colleges. Manhattan College, New York, collaborated with IN-TECH, a newly developed middle school…

This collection of graphs and tables of information from various survey sources shows the opinions of parents, teachers, and students about current educational issues. Graphs show that parents think improving schools is top priority, and they support higher standards. Parents see many benefits to student testing, and the majority does not think…

The integration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) real-world data and educational environments makes the curricular planning and implementation less focused upon purely theoretical matter and further focused upon the actual day-to-day understanding of difficult conceptual underpinnings of subject matter. This is of…

In order to assist professionals and policymakers more consistently engage parents in their work, this document uses the personal stories of several parents to illustrate how parents get involved in family programs and how some parents built on their natural leadership abilities to move from personal involvement to take on broader leadership…

The conference, Communities Working for Better Schools, brought together more than 120 parents, community organizers, and educators from a dozen cities nationwide who shared their stories about efforts to get better schools for their children, and as a consequence, better neighborhoods for their families. This publication presents information from…

This paper provides information about creating Professional Development Schools (PDSs) linked with university teacher preparation programs. It focuses on PDS programs in three regions of the United States at very diverse institutions, noting what has been learned from their experiences. All of the PDS partnerships in Towson University, Maryland's…

This guide, designed for families of children with disabilities and educators in Washington state, is intended to provide a shared understanding of special education and encourage partnership for the child's benefit. Each section specifies what families and educators should expect, their responsibilities, possible questions to ask, and their…

This guide identifies higher education strategies that effectively recruit and support future special educators from underrepresented groups. It begins with a list of common barriers to recruiting and retaining such students. Principles that make partnership efforts work are identified, such as a focus on connections, publicity, and…

This guide is designed to provide practical information for community leaders, local Workforce Investment Boards, Youth Councils, staff, and others committed to effective youth and workforce development. Its four sections provide technical assistance and training materials for Youth Councils. Chapter 1, "Planning the Menu," defines youth…

This book focuses on what it takes to translate professional development into impressive learning gains for students. The experiences of eight award-winning schools are distilled into principles for success. This book is based on hundreds of hours of talking with teachers and administrators at the eight schools. The schools are diverse,…

This paper describes a 2-year project establishing an interpretive community of field-based teacher researchers and a university-based teacher researcher at four urban preschools in San Francisco, California. The primary research focus of the project is an examination of practical and theoretical connections between current notions of…

This paper examines how community colleges are responding to external pressures to more closely collaborate with secondary schools in school reform efforts and school-to-work transition programs, focusing on four community colleges. These colleges engaged in a wide variety of collaborative activities with secondary schools. Two strong examples of…

This study examined preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about their elementary language arts teaching after being prepared in a Professional Development School (PDS). Participants were preservice teachers in the first semester of their field-based senior year of teacher preparation, all of whom were placed in one of several PDS clusters.…

Faith communities can play an important role in communities by encouraging families to be involved in their children's learning and by forming partnerships that enhance the potential for family and community involvement in children's education. To support these efforts, this publication provides faith community leaders and members with ideas,…

This paper describes an innovative interdisciplinary course offered at the University of New Orleans (Louisiana) which involved community members as full-fledged partners with students and university faculty in service-learning-by-doing teams. Each student, with the assistance of a faculty member and a community partner, identified an opportunity…