First-year outcomes are reported for Success for All--a program designed to bring all children to grade level in basic skills by the third grade. The program uses one-to-one tutoring, reading methods, frequent assessment, enhanced preschool and kindergarten programs, family support, and other interventions to prevent learning problems from…

Traditional assessment, grading, and student-recognition practices are partly responsible for the low levels of student effort pervading American schools. Two improvement-focused systems for student accountability and recognition that have been field tested are presented: The Incentives for Improvement Program (Baltimore, Maryland) and the Windham…

Three broad challenges to Thailand's educational system (participation, effectiveness, and resources) have deep, far- reaching consequences for the teaching profession. Major problems include teacher shortages in critical areas; low salaries; and recruitment, qualification, and professional-development inadequacies. Teacher/leadership programs are…

The California Education Round Table has been the principal organizing entity for much of the collaboration between precollegiate and postsecondary education systems in the state. A cornerstone of this system, the California Subject Matter Projects, a K-18 entity, provides discipline-specific, standards-based professional development for teachers.…

Describes how one middle school implemented shared decision making successfully. Presents questions that staff asked themselves, including how stakeholders' interests are represented, the type of communication network to use, changes in teachers' and principal's roles, keeping the focus on student learning, the type of staff developments needed,…

Summarizes findings of the 1995 Carnegie Foundation report, Native American Colleges: Progress and Prospects, which examined 1,614 tribal college student attitudes and outcomes in four areas: student services, instruction, campus climate, and curriculum. Due to limited financial resources, tribal campus facilities often were found to be inadequate…

Explored relationships between school and college faculty, in the context of graduate school and as colleagues collaborating to improve children's education. Data from dialogic inquiry, interviews, and surveys indicated that the collaborative, reciprocal process of struggling to understand inconsistencies created as they worked to transform…

Using music, story, and prayer, this conference presentation describes the African American spiritual experience with curriculum, explaining what African American spirituality is, who African Americans are, why spirituality is critical to African Americans, and where this spirituality is found, then linking it to education. (SM)

Examines the importance of storytelling and the implications of silence in the classroom, describing "Write for Your Life," an interdisciplinary writing project. The project focuses on improving student writing and on writing's relevance to students' lives and communities. The context is an experience in a methods class that highlighted…

Discusses the reasons for mediocre child care programs and how programs could be improved by examining the relationship between high quality care for children and the organizational climate for adults. Shows how research findings are often not put into practice. Outlines Model Work Standards, standards that have the potential to improve programs…

A local university worked with a Texas elementary school serving mostly Mexican Americans to implement a two-way bilingual program, provide inservice and graduate course work for faculty, provide parent training, connect with the community, and provide field experiences for undergraduate bilingual education teachers. Test scores and community…

Provides examples of schools and districts nationwide that use data-based decision making effectively to enhance beginning teacher induction, multi-age reading classes, literacy education, tracking of student achievement, ongoing staff development, and school discipline efforts. The programs share a commitment to putting data at the center of…

In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on providing all students access to the general education curriculum (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, No Child Left Behind Act). Given the diversity found among today's student population, both general and special education teachers struggle to find methodologies that enhance the…

Current trends toward international accountability and standards adoption is strongly influenced by economic globalization forces as nations attempt to become competitive in the global market and try to shape their education systems to provide those skills needed in the growing global economy. As more rigorous research helps to uncover the…

Throughout the 1980s and early '90s, school leaders in Waterloo faced a gloomy horizon. Economic hardships, including declines in property values and rising unemployment, resulted in decreasing school enrollment and limited financial resources. By 1995, the district had accumulated several million dollars of debt. From 1995 to 2005, the student…