More stakeholders are turning to technology to advance the professional learning required to support new standards and evaluation systems. Yet how technology is used will determine its potential to influence educator practice and results for students. This brief outlines how technology can enhance professional learning, offers examples of how…

The following dissertation explores how higher education faculty members' memories of learning content and learning to write influence their pedagogical practices and examines how disciplinary and departmental contexts intersect with those pedagogical practices. The research was designed as a nested case study that draws on interview data,…

Decades of research have provided strong evidence of what an integrated early childhood system should look like. Several groups, including the Alliance for Early Success, have outlined research-backed state and local policies that can move systems closer to meeting this goal. In fact, many states and communities across the country have already put…

With over 4,400 colleges and universities offering a variety of degrees and programs, and more than 2,000 non-degree granting institutions, the postsecondary education landscape within the United States can be a complex web to navigate for high school students (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). The transition from high school to postsecondary…

Changes in the demographic composition of the United States relative to the increase in English language learners (ELLs) in newcomer and refugee populations generate the need for cultural brokers, particularly in the ranks of educators and teacher candidates. Applied learning, especially as used in service-learning opportunities in teacher…

Several recent studies have been conducted on teacher professional development (PD) but few have focused exclusively on elementary music teacher PD. Prominent music education researchers encourage additional research to provide generalizability across the field. In answer to this call for broadening the base of research in elementary music…

Southern Regional Education Board's Electronic Campus (www.electroniccampus.org) has been designed as a gateway to e-learning opportunities and online services designed to meet the unique needs of adult learners wishing to start, continue, or complete their education. Students are able to complete coursework electronically and may not need to…

This Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness hearing on "New Innovations and Best Practices under the Work-force Investment Act," better known as WIA, is about the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act. Members testifying before the Committee were the Honorable Jason Altmire, a Representative in…

As with their first hearing, the members focused on new innovations and best practices that will improve the workforce development system. In this hearing, the witnesses share the practices that have been most successful in their experience with the workforce investment system. Members testifying before the Committee were the Honorable Brett…

The concept of civic-efficacy, as well as its role in post-school outcomes for high school students with disabilities is explored. Service-learning is introduced as a possible intervention for improving the civic-efficacy of high school students with disabilities. The existing literature regarding civic engagement, service-learning, and students…

"NSDC Policy Points" is a newsletter published by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). This issue of "NSDC Policy Points" presents an interview with Sir Michael Barber, who worked for British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the implementation of his priority programs, including education. In his interview, Barber talked…

The authority to operate a charter school is granted through a limited-term, renewable contract. Contract renewal is not automatic--it must be earned through strong academic results and operational effectiveness. Good schools should be cultivated and poor ones shut down. This is one of the definitive functions of a charter school authorizer. This…

The National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) at Clemson University has been at the forefront of identifying model dropout prevention programs and promoting the use of best practices to increase the graduation rates in schools since 1986. The structure for these varied interventions and solutions takes the form of effective strategies, model…

Advancement offices have their share of management issues. Do any of these situations sound familiar? An underachieving alumni director should have been let go long ago, but without a single bad performance review, he can't be fired. A development officer hires the wrong person and now spends too much time supervising her. A high-performing…

Although there have been changes in information technology and in higher education since the publication of College and University Archives: Selected Readings in 1979, the core fundamentals of college and university archives remain the same. If academic archivists are to make progress in their mission to ensure selection, preservation, and…