Teachers have an important influence on pupils' academic progress, yet the quality of teaching varies widely. Policymakers, school leaders, and teacher educators therefore face the challenge of designing and commissioning professional development (PD) to help all their teachers become as effective as the best teachers. In the last two decades, a…

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released joint guidance on January 7, 2015, reminding states, school districts, and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English Learners (ELs) have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve…

This document contains the Phase III report from the "What Works in Oklahoma Schools" study. As opposed to describing the findings from the study that was conducted, it provides a tool-kit that can be used by Oklahoma principals and teachers to determine the best courses of action for their schools and classrooms. The tools provided in…

Reports on observations of the guidance and counseling services offered in nine schools in the San Francisco Unified School District, California. Provides a history of the development of these programs, discusses the role of the counselor, sets forth the expected tasks of the counselor while comparing these with the actual work being performed,…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

When the goal is supporting excellent teaching, there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. This book helps literacy coaches and administrators navigate the many choices involved in developing and fine-tuning a coaching program that offers the best fit for a particular school. The authors draw on current research and their personal experiences in…

The recent wave of accountability reform movements has largely overlooked the needs of middle and high school counselors, yet has generated daunting pressure for guidance programs to be standards-based and data-driven. Written from the perspective of a practicing, certified counselor, this guide contains essential information needed to implement…

The Ventures in Education program, begun 10 years ago, includes honors-level curriculum, advanced placement courses, summer workshops, enrichment, a longer school day, and continued counseling and guidance. It has demonstrated that poor, disadvantaged high school students can learn to excel in demanding courses of study. (MSE)

A study was initiated in 1986 to collect systematic national data on the content and processes surrounding the delivery of vocational-technical education programs that could be used to help assess and describe the dynamics of high school vocational classrooms. The national database generated contained information from schools, classrooms, school…

Designed to measure the effectiveness of selected school special services, the evaluative instruments collected here are the result of several years of research and refinement. The descriptive criteria developed by the author may be used as a guide for initiating a new program or applied for self-evaluation or team evaluation of existing services.…