Financial aid can encourage students to enroll in college and increase their odds of academic success. While the California community colleges (CCCs) have very low fees, which are waived for most low-income students, the additional expenses of books, supplies, transportation, housing, food and childcare can create significant financial barriers to…

This report presents findings stemming from the first-year evaluation of the Governor's Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) program, one of several statewide performance incentive programs in Texas. In the fall of 2006, the GEEG program made available non-competitive, three-year grants to 99 schools ranging from $60,000 to $220,000 per year. Grants…

The 14 Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)-funded youth employment programs to which the Academy for Educational Development (AED) has delivered technical assistance for the past 5 years illustrate several important conditions for effective programming and "best practices" in the field of youth employment and training. Four of the JTPA…

This information digest provides an overview of some areas of agreement between the fields of gifted education and middle school education, some areas of tension, and some promising directions that could engage educators in mutual planning of appropriate services for all middle school students, including the gifted. Shared beliefs include the…

In preparation for a conference held in Paris, France, in November 1994, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) launched a 5-year program that involved 20 countries studying the changing role of vocational and technical education and training (VOTEC). This report synthesizes 18 country reports on major recent developments…

This study sought to understand how multicultural education is socially constructed and enacted by teachers in schools and classrooms. The study explored how and why organizational, individual-teacher, and student factors interact to shape the ways multicultural curriculum is constructed and practiced by teachers in the classroom. The study used…

The development of the "learning organization" may be traced to three converging trends: the tradition of organizational development; economic shifts to globalization, deregulation, and information-based industry; and total quality management. Learning organizations are generally characterized as follows: organizations that create…

A 2-year research and development project was conducted to identify existing good practices for introducing students in the United Kingdom (UK) to General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) and available teaching and learning materials for use in the induction of GNVQs in UK schools and colleges. The main activities of the project's three…

This text introduces the concepts of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) and shows how they can be used in the classroom. A quality classroom is defined as one in which everyone in the class knows the objectives of the class and adopts a quality philosophy to continuously improve the work done to meet those objectives. The general principles and…

This manual presents 15 Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) tools and techniques necessary for effective teaching. By using the tools and techniques of CQI, teachers will be able to help themselves and their students to focus on the classroom processes. This will permit the teacher and students to plan, organize, implement, and make decisions…

This document, which was developed for participants in a videoconference on literacy training in the workplace, contains information and resources designed to help literacy trainers improve their workplace literacy programs. Presented in the introductory section are a videoconference evaluation form, list of videoconference sponsors, and…

As a result of a 1992 West Virginia Department of Education plan to fully include students with disabilities, this project examined the effects of school funding practices and personnel practices such as certification, training, and teaching practices on the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. Information was…

This report is a product of a 3-year federally funded project examining model education programs for postsecondary students with disabilities funded since 1980 by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The study sought to identify and share information about strategies of successful projects and exemplary products. Chapter 1…

A review of the research and a case study of current practice in one large urban school district evaluate the decision-making process of including students with disabilities in systems of educational accountability and the identification and provision of suitable accommodations for such students. Issues in the inclusion of students with…

More than 60 studies on prison education were reviewed to determine the following: relationship between prison education and offender behavior; effects of prison population control strategies on prison education programs; and effects of academic and vocational program participation on inmate misconduct and reincarceration. Among the main findings…