This report is drafted with state leaders and policy makers in mind, including those who work with or support these education leaders. The information shared in this report will likely be most relevant to states that have either not yet considered a new data system on teacher preparation providers, are only now starting to consider the idea, or…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

Several Race to the Top grantees are considering the development of video libraries as one element of their larger teacher and leader effectiveness reforms. Video libraries promise to offer "real world" examples of teaching practice that can be used for a wide range of purposes: providing teachers with concrete evidence of excellent…

The Data Quality Campaign is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection, availability and use of high-quality education data and to implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement. The campaign aims to provide tools and resources that will assist state development…

This state plan identifies New Jersey Department of Education activities for assisting local school districts in designing educational programs to meet the needs of intellectually and academically gifted students. The plan begins with an identification of needs in the area of gifted education, focusing on the need for multiple measures for student…

State education agencies are in increasing agreement regarding the basic principles that should underlie state educational assessment programs, though some areas of divergent opinion remain. The agencies generally accept the ideas that comparisons between states will be made, that assessment programs should serve multiple purposes, that meaningful…

Describes the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's three-phase planning model for microcomputer use to show other state departments how to make the integration of computer technology a much easier task. Includes information on development/implementation of the model, state recommendations, computer coordinator job responsibilities,…

Research for Better Schools studied regional educational service agencies (RESA's) to learn how they contribute to school improvement activities. This report outlines the variety of training and assistance services that RESA's provide to local school districts. Identifying two important conditions in the delivery of these services--trust and the…

A December 1983 survey queried the chief state school officers of the 50 states on the extent to which distance learning techniques are used in public education in their states. Respondents were asked to focus on interactive forms of distance learning, such as audio and video teleconferencing. A total of 28 states (56%) responded, with the…

This document presents the Virginia Department of Education's plan to develop and implement pilot programs in six localities for the 1992-94 biennium (prior to statewide implementation in 1994) for the delivery of special education to juveniles in local jails. The plan is community based, with local school division administrators and jail…

Federal legislation requires that all handicapped children be afforded an appropriate and individualized physical education program. The state education agency of Montana, however, has not assumed this responsibility, and unqualified special education classroom teachers and regular physical education teachers are reluctantly charged by local…

These two documents contain a variety of articles on media use in education. The first provides 16 articles that focus on justifying media programs in the 1980's. Topics include selling your program to administrators; reorganization of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; video literacy; student-made videotape recordings; interactive…

Federal education policy preferences of the Reagan Administration include both procedural and substantive elements. The overarching procedural policy is devolution--the transfer of the authority and responsibility for education policy and program development from the federal to state and local levels. Federal activities intended to advance…

The Mississippi State Department of Education Dissemination Program undertook a five-year plan from 1980-1985 to develop a coordinated, comprehensive statewide dissemination system for public school improvement throughout the state. The major objectives of the project were to develop the following: (1) a system for collecting, storing, retrieving,…

This collection of readings is intended to provide a source book on best practices in staff development in higher education within a British context. The 13 papers are grouped into three parts: part 1 presents the educational development tradition which has focused on development of staff as teachers; part 2 considers development of staff in…