Public schools follow school improvement guidelines to improve outcomes for students. This study utilized a quantitative method with a correlational design to discern any relationship between the NCStar School Improvement Program Indicators and student proficiency scores. The population for the study was 636 public high schools implementing the…

Schools are learning organisations. They continuously strive to do better for the children and young people in their charge. In doing so, they try new things, seek to learn from those experiences, and work to adopt and embed the practices that work best. Implementation is a key aspect of what schools do to improve, and yet it is a domain of school…

Years of data show many students exit the U.S. educational system unprepared for college and career. In response, the White House launched the "My Brother's Keeper" (MBK) initiative, calling for the closing of opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color. SWIFT Center assembled a national task force to determine how SWIFT can…

For the past 12 years, the author has worked with peer coaches in more than 40 countries, and has seen schools where peer coaches have collaborated with colleagues to improve teaching and learning in classrooms across the school. In other schools, coaches have played a critical role in creating a culture of collaboration that helps build the…

Regardless of where you are in your school improvement process, here's a book that helps you make sure you have all the right elements working for you in the right way. The authors take you through the core processes that are essential for all school improvement efforts--from establishing your mission to differentiating your supervision based on…

By interviewing parents and reviewing letters of complaint, Camp Hy-Lake (Tennessee) identified six conditions/outcomes parents expected of a good camp experience. By providing those conditions the camp improved its camper return rate from 60 to 80% in approximately two years and increased camper returns from two to three and a half years. (JHZ)

Saying "teaching matters most" is easy, and seems obvious. Making it the top priority for school leaders and staff is not so easy--in fact, it's messy. If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must change how they teach. They must transform the old "assign-and-assess" model into engaging, compassionate, coherent,…

This article presents an interview with Wes Taylor, the 2011 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year. In this interview, Taylor shares credit with the teachers and staff members at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, for the school's systemic and long-lasting improvement in instruction and climate. He mentions that the…

When reforming practices to help all students succeed, secondary school leaders face the unique challenge of aligning the efforts of educators from different disciplines. In addition, they know that few common measures capture student growth across these disciplines. If a school has a history of success, a deep examination of its practices may not…

Trustees at three small, independent colleges were interviewed to determine how trustees could contribute to a college's revitalization. Based on these interviews, several ways in which trustees can help individually and collectively with a college's revitalization were identified. The three colleges were located in different states and regions…

This article presents an interview with Cathy Carnahan, the 2011 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Carnahan makes adult learning a priority to support student achievement at Duniway Middle School in McMinnville, Oregon. She describes her school as a community of learners that is a safe setting for teachers to lead and…

For the past three years, the faculty and administrators of Diamond Fork Junior High School--a large junior high in Spanish Fork, Utah--have been on an amazing journey of examining the school's educational practices with the intent of improving learning opportunities for all its students. In March 2009, the administrators and the faculty…

These days, Response to Intervention (RTI) is everywhere, and there are lots of claims about what RTI is and how to do it. At last, here's a book that helps you cut through the quackery and ensure that your approach to RTI represents the very best of what is known about assessment, instruction, and intervention. Author Margaret Searle provides you…

States, school districts, and schools across the country are increasingly implementing multi-tier systems of support (MTSS) to improve outcomes for all students. Kansas is no exception. The Kansas MTSS is designed to improve outcomes for all students by instituting system-level change across the classroom, school, district, and state. Such…

In this article, the author writes from the perspective of a community college research practitioner, an institutional researcher whose daily work is intended primarily to affect policies, procedures and understanding of student learning and institutional effectiveness. The audience for this work is composed of faculty, administrators, staff,…