Kentucky?s school improvement planning process is designed to include all school stakeholders (parents, staff and administrators) in creating a plan to ensure that all students in a school show continuous academic improvement. This guidebook is designed to take schools step-by-step through a high quality planning process that will meet state and federal requirements and best practice standards. The planning process accomplishes this task in several ways. The process has multiple steps that...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Needs Assessment, Educational Improvement
The Chairperson of the National Commission on Excellence in Education addresses his remarks to participants of the National Forum on Excellence in Education. Specifically, the speaker lists ways educators express high expectations of students and enumerates contrasting educational practices through which educators express low expectations. Portions of the Commission's final report dealing with standards are reiterated, and the importance of standards for attaining excellence is illustrated. (RH)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Elementary Secondary Education, Standards
This document presents the text of a speech given by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Page to the National Press Club September 24, 2003. This booklet also provides a transcript of Secretary Paige's responses to questions asked during the event. The main developments in American education, especially the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act are discussed. (AA)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Policy, Reports, Paige, Rod
This month's newsletter highlights recent research that suggests a different approach to school reform. It looks at three studies in which schools that succeed--and all of them serve high percentages of at-risk students--take a more comprehensive approach to improvement. Each of the schools identified in this report approached reform comprehensively rather than taking a one-issue-at-a-time approach. They chose to address multiple factors, such as school culture, academic rigor, academic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, School Restructuring, Self Evaluation (Groups), Educational Improvement
The purpose of this report is to synthesize (a) meta-analyses of control-group research and (b) econometric analyses of large-scale surveys, both of which reveal the causes of achievement. (Author)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Quality, Walberg, Herbert J.
This booklet describes the efforts and successes of the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI), a collaborative research venture of Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania that conducts research describing and analyzing the challenges of postsecondary education. Its goal is to provide institutions, policy makers, employers, students, parents, faculty, and administrators with the information and tools necessary to help them improve the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Research, Higher Education, Program Descriptions
The Board of Directors of National Educational Radio (NER) established a Task Force to study how radio might best be utilized for instruction in the years ahead. After ten months of study the Task Force presented its recommendations. Among these were that radio should be considered as a means of solving pressing educational problems in a cost effective way, and that to accomplish this goal, immediate and concerted action by all concerned agencies was necessary to improve facilities and provide...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Radio, Educational Technology, Guidelines, Radio
GUIDELINES FOR THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS WERE PREPARED BY MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATIONAL MEDIA COUNCIL--(1) ASSESSMENT OF THE UNIQUE EDUCATIONAL POTENTIALS OF VARIOUS MEDIA, (2) TEACHER AND SPECIALIST PREPARATION FOR USE OF EDUCATIONAL MEDIA, (3) AN INFORMATION-DISSEMINATION PROGRAM, (4) DEVELOPMENT OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL OF EDUCATIONAL MEDIA, AND (5) DEVELOPMENT OF RECOMMENDED TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL MEDIA. MEDIA ASSESSMENT THEORETICALLY CAN BE AIDED BY DEVELOPMENT OF A MEDIA...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Communications, Educational Improvement, Educational Media, Information...
To provide decision makers with the information they need to make informed decisions about school restructuring, The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement recently commissioned a series of papers titled "School Restructuring Options Under No Child Left Behind: What Works When?" Each of the four papers focuses on one of the first four options identified in the law and summarizes the research base that supports it. The series is designed to help district leaders...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Legislation, School Restructuring, Educational Change, Educational Improvement
This phrase, data-driven decision making, is familiar to most schools and districts engaged in comprehensive school reform and improvement. It reminds practitioners that their plans have a greater likelihood of succeeding if the goals and strategies within them are based on solid information and not on hunches or habit. But where can schools get the data they need? As they strive for continuous improvement, how do they know which goals and strategies to keep or expand and which to drop? This...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Program Evaluation, School Restructuring, Educational Improvement, Decision Making
This document provides information on the projects, initiatives and products of ECS and other national education and policy organizations on the subject of high school improvement. It is designed to direct policymakers to the various groups and resources that might be useful in developing and implementing effective high school policy, and highlight important resources for anyone concerned with improving high schools.
Topics: ERIC Archive, High Schools, Educational Policy, Educational Improvement, Policy Formation, Resources
This booklet details the mission and major programs of each of eight research and development centers, eleven educational laboratories, two educational policy research centers, and two vocational and technical research and development centers, as well as the National Program on Early Childhood Education, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, the Educational Research Facilities Program. All of these programs are supported by the National Center for Educational Research and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Directories, Educational Development, Educational Improvement, Educational Policy,...
This report summarizes Jobs for the Future's (JFF's) findings and recommendations to enhance dual enrollment in Rhode Island, reshaping the programs from a collection of locally autonomous high school enrichment activities to a comprehensive statewide system that provides college transition opportunities to a wide range of students. Rhode Island has the opportunity to recast dual enrollment to meet the state's goal to construct a more seamless, aligned PK-16 education pipeline. But to establish...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Enrichment Activities, Educational Improvement, Dual Enrollment, Advanced Placement,...
The activities of the National Board on Graduate Education have been defined as: (1) the initiation of new research studies and the encouragement of experimentation and innovation; (2) the coordination and review of current research efforts and studies; (3) the dissemination of information and referrals for individuals, institutions, and agencies; (4) the preparation and circulation of a continuing annotated bibliography of literature on graduate education; and (5) the conduct of programs for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Planning, Graduate Study, Higher Education,...
This Network Directory is part of the effort by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) School Improvement Program to promote communication among educational professionals about school improvement. Specifically, the directory is designed to provide information for networking among schools involved in systematic, long-term research-based school improvement efforts. The directory is based on information provided by school personnel. Data were collected through an extensive...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Elementary Secondary Education, Research and Instruction...
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) created a series of recommendations to the federal government and President for a 4-year federal investment in improving elementary and secondary education. These recommendations incorporate new initiatives with the reauthorizations of ESEA, OERI, and IDEA. The national objective is set to establish the purpose of federal funding and the order of priority and magnitude of federal commitment. Academic progress is to be accelerated for students...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Aid, Federal...
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires that states improve academic performance so that all students reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014 and that achievement gaps close among student groups. States set annual proficiency targets using an approach known as a status model, which calculates test scores 1 year at a time. Some states have interest in using growth models that measure changes in test scores over time to determine if schools are meeting proficiency targets. To...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Legislation, Educational Improvement, Models, Sample Size, Academic...
The purpose of the Committee on Basic Research in Education is to provide advice to the Office of Education on the organization of a comprehensive program of support for basic behavioral, social and humanistic research of relevance to education. This document presents: (1) the history and goals of the Committee on Basic Research; (2) the activities of the Committee; (3) the role of the disciplines in basic research related to education; (4) the role of problem centered inquiry in basic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Development, Educational Improvement, Educational Research, Higher...
In 2002, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act instituted fundamental changes in federal education policy, and states were required to hold schools accountable not simply for making some progress but rather for making sufficient progress in enabling student proficiency on state assessments by 2014. The achievement gaps long plaguing American education can no longer be ignored. New ways of planning for and implementing school reforms are needed. If improvement is to mean more than simply writing a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Academic Achievement, Educational Improvement, Accountability,...
This handbook is designed to help state leaders form vital connections between schools and communities to improve student learning. It explains that community schools are beneficial because they meet students' basic needs, including safety; offer high quality curriculum and teaching aligned with academic standards; provide learning experiences that extend beyond the traditional school day; show students opportunities for success beyond academics; and engage students as active learners and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Schools, Educational Improvement, Elementary Secondary Education, School...
This hearing was held to discuss the reauthorization of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of the U.S. Department of Education, focusing on H.R. 4875, which was introduced in 2000 to reform OERI and institutionalize new standards of quality. H.R. 4875, approved by the House Subcommittee on Education Reform, serves as the basis for H.R. 3801, the Education Sciences Reform Act. This bill would replace OERI with a new Academy of Education Sciences that would provide the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Research, Federal Legislation, Policy Formation,...
In an attempt to identify the characteristics of the effective urban teacher, 12 teachers each from Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania were selected to work with a small team of state education agency personnel, to list these teacher characteristics, and to recommend various reforms at all levels of the educational system. The teachers completed an extensive background questionnaire and were also interviewed. The data obtained were used to compile several summary...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Individual Characteristics, Teacher Characteristics, Teacher...
The Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) approach has provided many corporations with a tool for adapting to ongoing shifts in demands and resources, and it can offer academic settings similar assistance. CQI offers a mechanism for building a collaborative process that can help departments define their unique strengths and cultivate a distinctive niche. The CQI process begins by identifying specifically what consumers want from an academic organization. The approach assumes that departments...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Benchmarking, Departments, Educational Improvement, Higher Education, Quality...
A forensics mentor is a person of greater rank, experience, or expertise who teaches, guides, and develops a person less experienced in the forensics profession. Interviews show that coaches and directors favor mentoring, and feel that it is desirable to the forensics community. In considering the applicability of mentoring to forensics, however, educators must note that questions and concerns exist about both the practice of mentoring and the research conducted to date on mentoring...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Debate, Educational Improvement, Higher Education, Interpersonal Relationship,...
Instructional technology has often been hailed as the answer to the problem of education the disadvantaged child. But examination of studies of these children has proved that some of the assumptions about them have been false and that instructional technology may, in fact, be a hindrance. There is no proof that slum children are good at motor tasks and poor at conceptual learning. Disadvantaged children are more dependent on the approval of their teacher than are middle-class children who...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Technology, Program Evaluation, Teaching...
This paper applies the quality concept of continuous improvement to academic departments, very few of which engage in a continuous improvement (CI) initiative. The goal of a CI initiative is for a department to become self-regarding, self-monitoring, and self-correcting. CI efforts begin with the development of a department-level assessment plan that identifies the mission of the department while being practical and principled. Steps to developing a departmental assessment plan are: (1) agree...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Departments, Educational Improvement, Evaluation Methods, Higher Education, Hatfield,...
This document described the annual report for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education for 1972. Reports are given for the various programs at WICHE including the Division of Regional Programs, the Division of Mental Health and Related Areas, and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. WICHE (1) seeks to increase educational opportunities for western youth; (2) assists colleges and universities to improve both their academic programs and their institutional...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Annual Reports, Educational Improvement, Higher Education, Institutional Cooperation,...
Recognition of the need for behavioral science input into medical education has come about partly because patterns of health care are changing in this country and the traditional disease-oriented curriculum does not prepare students for the new roles they will play in society when they become physicians. Students must master not only tremendously expanded bodies of scientific knowledge, but must also understand the behavioral components of health and illness, and complexities of health care as...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Behavioral Sciences, Conference Reports, Educational Improvement, Higher Education,...
The Draft Report of the Commission on Post-Secondary Education in Ontario has stimulated extensive debate within the universities of the province. The report was designed to provide a comprehensive overview of higher education in Ontario, and to provide recommendations for the improvement of higher education. This publication contains highlights of that debate from the standpoint of the Council of Ontario Universities and its committees and affiliate organizations. (HS)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Planning, Higher Education, International...
Educators often use the term technical assistance to define services delivered or received in the pursuit of school- and district-improvement initiatives. More specifically, technical assistance can be defined as any assistance that identifies, selects, or designs research-based solutions and practices to support school improvement (Mattson & McDonald, 2005). This newsletter focuses on the critical role collaboration plays when school districts and technical assistance providers formulate,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cooperation, Technical Assistance, Educational Improvement, Delivery Systems, School...
This handbook is intended to provide school officials and members of school councils and advisory committees with helpful information about different ways to plan for school improvement. It focuses on the process of planning, rather than on the process of writing a plan, and therefore does not include any planning forms or instructions for using such forms. Separate sections of the handbook examine the planning process in general, describe three different planning models that are applicable to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Planning, Elementary Secondary Education,...
A 6-week institute has been designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to strengthen history education and to transmit their knowledge to beginning and experienced teachers. Under the planning and direction of an advisory committee (composed of members of the American Historical Association), six interdisciplinary teams, each composed of a professional historian, a social studies educator, and a history teacher, will participate in activities designed to enable...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Curriculum Development, Educational Improvement, History Instruction, Institutes...
Entries in the bibliography are catagorized as books; journals; or articles, chapters, and monographs. A research report and three books are also reviewed. (MLF)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Bibliographies, Educational Change, Educational Improvement, Literature Reviews,...
Career education models are based on the identification and analysis of major components needed to adapt present curricula into career-oriented curricula. There are four such models: school-based, employer-based, home/community based, and residential-based. The Comprehensive Career Education Model, a school-based model, provides the base to design educational experiences optimizing career development and gain an understanding of self and the world of work. It has eight major elements subdivided...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Career Education, Development, Educational Improvement, Educational Methods, Models,...
This document gives the rationale for the content and method of five teacher and teacher-aide training workshops. Results of a questionnaire confirmed the need for improvement in in-service training in the entire Appalachian area and also indicated the kinds of changes needed. Deficiencies in content were identified as: 1) application of educational theory, 2) teaching methods, 3) up-to-date training in the subject areas, 4) vocational opportunities for pupils, 5) curriculum planning and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Inservice Teacher Education, Teacher Aides, Teacher...
This paper explores the role of professional learning communities in facilitating effective use of data by school administrators and teachers. The paper draws on three related research studies conducted in the Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin. Grounded in systemic reform theory, the studies had a common goal to build the capacity of school staff to use data more effectively for continuous improvement and decision making to improve student learning. Knowledge management theory helps define...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Administrators, Educational Improvement, Information Utilization, Professional...
Changes made by 41 institutions of higher education to improve the quality of teacher education are briefly reported in this news release, as examples of responses to the need to improve educational quality. In general, institutions are raising standards, changing their programs, offering faculty and staff development activities, developing programs with faculty from other academic disciplines on campus, extending the clinical component, infusing research findings into the program, and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Educational Improvement, Higher Education, Program Development,...
Connecting school, home, and community resources is essential to the well-being of children and youth and to enhancing equity of opportunity for them to succeed at school and beyond. With this in mind, many initiatives and policy reports have focused on addressing the widespread fragmentation of supports for families and their children. Considerable policy emphasis has centered on the notion of integrated student supports. While most of the discussion of integrated student supports is...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Integrated Services, Intervention, Equal Education, Educational Policy, Educational...
Dr. Bessie Boehm Moore has been a major contributor to library advancement and economics education in Arkansas and throughout the United States. She began her career as a first grade teacher at the age of 14. As one of the first county supervisors in Arkansas, she became alarmed at the paucity of library materials available for student use and succeeded in obtaining county government funds for the purchase of library books. Dr. Moore served on the Arkansas Library Commission for 38 years. As...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Biographies, Economics Education, Educational History, Educational Improvement,...
School and district leadership has been the focus of intense scrutiny in recent years as researchers try to define not only the qualities of effective leadership but the impact of leadership on the operation of schools, and even on student achievement. A recently published literature review entitled "How Leadership Influences Student Learning" contributes to this growing body of knowledge by examining the links between student achievement and educational leadership practices. Authors...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Leadership Effectiveness, Academic Achievement, Principals, Instructional Leadership,...
The activities evaluated in this report were in progress during the school year 1970-71, the second of a 3-year cycle for ESEA Title I programs in elementary and secondary schools in Los Angeles. The components examined are instruction (reading, language, and arithmetic), auxiliary services, intergroup relations, parent involvement, and staff development. A section on nonpublic schools examines instruction and supportive services. Each abstract contains a description of the subject matter, the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Elementary Schools, Federal Aid, Junior High Schools,...
This report is intended to document the status of the development of the McREL Approach for McREL staff and contract sponsors. It provides a description of the McREL Approach ? the content of the Approach as well as the theory of change and theory of action that are embedded in the Approach. To provide a context for the McREL Approach, a brief history of recent school reform efforts is provided in the first section. The next sections present information on various models of educational change...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Educational Improvement, Models, Outcomes of Education, Dean,...
Being selected for a principalship can be a heady experience--true for any leadership position representing a significant promotion or advancement. The "passing of the torch" of leadership is a critical juncture at which school improvement can either benefit from new energy or lose momentum. While it is impossible to predict or prevent every misstep a new leader might make, certain common patterns do emerge, and district leaders can proactively minimize them with specific support to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Leadership, Principals, Leaders, Academic Achievement,...
This document presents the hearing of the Subcommittee on Research, Committee on Science, House of Representatives, held May 2, 2001. The content of the hearing focuses on the educational improvement of science education at the K-12 level and includes the following speakers' statements: (1) Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Research, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives; (2) Education Department Chair, Phil Sadler, Science Education...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Change, Educational Improvement, Elementary Secondary Education,...
This guide outlines a school-improvement process to help schools develop an information system that improves services to students and their families. It looks at ways to build a leadership team that can orchestrate the work of families, school professionals, administrators, and students through the school-improvement process. It describes how to develop an information loop by generating a school profile that uses pictures, graphs, and text, all of which provide stakeholders with information...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Administration, Educational Change, Educational Improvement, Elementary...
While educators often have rich information on the strategies used in their own school, they may have little information about the strategies or practices in other schools--particularly the specific practices of consistently higher performing schools. To provide an outside compass for those seeking to improve, members at the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) have researched the practices of 479 school systems chosen through a careful analysis that identifies consistent...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Academic Achievement, Best Practices, Models, Evidence,...
While educators often have rich information on the strategies used in their own school, they may have little information about the strategies or practices in other schools--particularly the specific practices of consistently high-performing schools. To provide an outside compass for those seeking to improve, members at National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) have researched the practices of 479 school systems chosen based on a careful analysis that identifies consistent school...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Academic Achievement, Best Practices, Models, Evidence,...
The State Plan for Alabama Higher Education is intended to focus public attention on important strategic issues facing Alabama higher education and the state and to articulate Alabamas needs and its vision for higher education. It is designed to commit resources necessary to provide high quality teaching, scholarship, research, and public service programs for Alabama citizens, and to promote stronger working relationships among stakeholders with an interest in the establishment of common goals...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Improvement, Educational Objectives, Educational Planning, Futures (of...
This report of the activities of the New England Program in Teacher Education (NEPTE) during the period of July 1973 through June 1974 is divided into 10 sections. The introduction briefly describes NEPTE's purpose and history. The second section communicates the general thrust of the year's activity toward finding sources of funding other than the New England Regional Commission, its original source. Staff changes are noted in the third section. The fourth section briefly describes nine NEPTE...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Annual Reports, Change Agents, Consultants, Educational Improvement, Interstate...
This document is a compilation of the proceedings of the 23rd Annual State California Conference on Educational Research. The theme of the proceedings centered around accountability and curriculum. Each participant submitted his remarks on specially designed paper; each page was photographed and prepared without editing. The three general sessions covered 1) educational growth; 2) performance contracting--the Dallas experiment; and 3) teaching performance tests at three levels of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Accountability, Curriculum Development, Educational Improvement, Educational...
