Today's students are often called "digital-age learners"--reflecting their technological savvy and free-agent approach to learning. With their iPods, iPhones, computer games, social media pages, and text messaging, these digital-age students have access to resources and knowledge beyond traditional school structures and practices. These…

One objective of the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) School Improvement Grants (SIG) and Race to the Top (RTT) program is to help states enhance their capacity to support the turnaround of low-performing schools. This capacity may be important, given how difficult it is to produce substantial and sustained achievement gains in low-performing…

Effective state policy for new teacher mentoring stipulates program elements that increase the likelihood that district programming will be implemented and, thus, defines for districts what is important about mentoring support. Although most state policies do not differentiate programs for novice special education teachers, there are particular…

E-mentoring--the use of technology-based communication formats in which mentors and mentees interact--is emerging as a solution for supporting novice teachers, especially when they have limited access to in-building support. This Brief describes the possibilities of using e-mentoring with novice special education teachers.

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

Local school systems, Local Education Agencies [LEAs], and universities, Institutions of Higher Education [IHEs], work together in a variety of ways in the initial preparation and ongoing professional development of teachers, although it is difficult to ascertain the number of LEA/IHE partnerships. These relationships typically allow for a…

This document was developed by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) National Network to improve understanding about how valuable effective technology transfer is to the fields of substance abuse treatment and prevention. Technology transfer involves creating a mechanism by which a desired change is accepted, incorporated, and reinforced…

This descriptive report examines the strategies of the six Southeast Region states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) to improve high school graduation rates and student achievement and to increase the number of students leaving high school with the skills and knowledge necessary for the twenty-first…

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of recent educational reform efforts in Washington State and to determine what educators believe to be the most important future areas of focus. In particular, the researchers wanted to determine whether school-wide improvement efforts (i.e. School Improvement Plans (SIPs), School Improvement…

Conventional wisdom on the nature of leadership in higher education is challenged in this collection of 12 essays. They are divided into three sections: (1) The Context; (2) New Leaders and New Models; and (3) Strategies and Resources. Chapters and authors include: "Leaders and Their Development" (Madeleine F. Green); "Toward a New Leadership…

This paper presents a detailed example of teachers' professional development as a part of a district's career ladder pilot-test program in Arizona. A case study describes a secondary school teacher who has been a leader in a major national and state teachers' organization. A description is given of how teachers develop intellectually and…

This volume was intended to stimulate new thinking about how to restructure a school program to effectively educate students whose native language is not English. It favors calling such students "English Language Learners" (ELLs). The document provides specific examples of how some California schools have improved their educational…

PRISM, the Pittsburgh Research-Based Instructional Supervisory Model, was initiated when the superintendent convened an Instructional Leadership Committee (ILC) to develop a plan for improving instruction and instructional leadership within the district. The Pittsburgh Public Schools' Learning Research Development Center then conducted a…

The role of the college athletic coach has changed substantially in recent decades, with the ideal of the coach as an educator obsolescent. Institutions must work with the National Collegiate Athletic Association and coaches' associations for reform, addressing three major issues: need for a better hiring process, provision of meaningful…

Needs of collegiate mathematics across the nation are considered, and suggestions are offered to the National Science Foundation (NSF) by a professor of Mathematics at St. Olaf College (Minnesota). Changes in mathematics content, scope, and applications have implications for the college curriculum. Problems and challenges are posed by: increased…