Even elementary school children can build positive character traits like caring, citizenship, cooperation, courage, fairness, honesty, respect, and responsibility. The true stories, inspiring quotations, thought-provoking dilemmas, and activities in this book help kids grow into capable, moral teens and adults. This guide includes: (1)…

Of all the factors that schools control, teacher quality is the one that most affects student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000). In fact, researcher Eric Hanushek (2002) found the difference in annual student achievement growth between a student taught by an effective teacher and one taught by an ineffective teacher can be as much as one…

Partners in Quality is a research and development project sponsored by the Canadian Child Care Federation and its affiliates to explore how child care providers, parents, and other partners can work together to support and improve quality in child care. This booklet, in both English and French, supplements a series to support child care providers…

This guide provides a family approach to college planning, with the goal of helping Latino students gain college entrance. Part 1 provides basic information about college, including information about how early parents should begin talking with their children about college, how parents can help their children plan for college, ensuring that…

Out-of-school programs have proven potential to help low-income youth overcome many barriers associated with growing up in rural communities. Finding resources to support these programs, however, can be difficult and often requires additional effort by rural leaders to push for resource sharing and coordination of multiple services for rural…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the Policymaker Partnership (PMP) of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education have joined together to consider challenges and opportunities for coordinating special and compensatory education among states, districts, and schools. As part of this effort toward increasing…

Parks, libraries, museums and other cultural organizations represent a diverse array of assets and share a broad mission to serve their communities, however, some may not realize the roles that these institutions can and do play in supporting young people during out-of-school time hours. This issue of the "Out-of-School Time Policy Commentary"…

Over the past two decades, America has embarked on a campaign to improve public schools for all our nation's children. Educators have turned their focus to the outcomes of schooling. The Committee for Economic Development (CED) has urged such reforms, and this report concentrates on the need to link the way schools are funded and managed to the…

This participant handbook is composed of supplemental instructional materials for a course designed to teach the organization and management of training, including roles and functions performed and the needs, costs, benefits, and productivity of training systems. A course outline or syllabus provide a course description, course objectives, subject…

In 1997, the San Diego Community College District conducted a self-evaluation study of Mesa College to assess its compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Ten focus groups discussed their knowledge and views of the ADA. Findings for the Student and Disabled Student Group indicated that while there was a general lack of awareness…

This resource for parents uses a workbook format to provide specific ideas for parents and other caretakers to use with infants from birth to 8 months of age. Suggested activities are based on an understanding of how the brain develops during infancy and the types of stimulation that promote neural efficiency. The book begins with a discussion of…

This resource for parents and other caretakers to use with infants from 8 to 18 months provides a synthesis of research on early brain development and objective-oriented instruction as the basis for activities that promote intellectual development. Part 1 of the book provides an overview of early development, discusses general ways of enhancing…

This brochure is directed at individuals interested in building business and community partnerships with education. It details how and why to establish partnerships in classrooms, school districts, communities, and the policy arena. It begins with brief discussions of the following: reasons for encouraging higher standards in education; the need…

This manual is designed to help individual libraries in Wisconsin plan and implement their summer library programs. The manual is divided into six sections. Section 1 covers planning and promoting programs, and includes reproducible promotional materials, sample letters to parents, and sample media materials. Section 2 provides decorating and…

Historically, libraries have been an important component of the educational process, contributing to the success of the educational mission of schools. Education reform has prompted increased attention to the role school library media centers might play in the expanding role of computer- and technology-based education. However, policymakers have…