This guide aims to present district instructional leaders and staff with a core set of criteria for what high-quality professional development entails. What makes this particular document different and useful is the focus on practical issues of district-level implementation in multiple teaching and learning environments. This is a guide designed…

Communities across the country are grappling with different approaches to improving their schools. Introducing or expanding charter schools is one of the approaches that states and school districts have considered or implemented. Charter schools serve more than 5 percent of public school students nationwide and make up close to 7 percent of all…

This policy profile on education in the Netherlands is part of the new Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base available…

Educators are becoming aware that between the school, government and the home is an important link, which must be utilized or harnessed for children's learning and educational development. The situation of teaching and learning in most public schools in Nigeria shows that there is a considerable difference in the level of involvement of the…

This management kit introduces building managers to the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and provides the knowledge and tools needed to implement an IPM program in their buildings. It discusses the barriers to implementing an IPM program, why such a program should be used, and the general guidelines for its implementation. Managerial…

This booklet provides information regarding the use of universal free breakfast programs and guidance to schools that wish to start such a program. Written for school officials and breakfast advocates, the guide discusses the benefits of a universal free school breakfast program, the options available, and basic operational issues, so that…

One approach to student behavior that may be particularly useful in exclusionary settings is school-wide positive behavior supports (PBS). Increasingly, evidence shows that PBS is an effective approach to student behavior in regular public schools (Sugai & Horner, 2005). While the data on behavioral systems in exclusionary schools are…

This guide is designed to assist school systems in developing and/or using occupational/craft committees in support of public school vocational-technical education programs in Maryland. The guide is organized in two parts. Part I outlines the steps needed to organize an occupational/craft committee: rationale and benefits, functions, steps in…

This report presents guidelines for developing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach for educational facilities, and discusses the unique opportunities an IPM program can provide in the school science curriculum. This includes the hands-on experience IPM affords to students in the areas of biology, ecology, and least-toxic management of…

Part of the purpose of public schooling is to help children develop into productive adults who responsibly participate in a democratic community. The prevention of suicide is critical to the accomplishment of this purpose. Suicide prevention includes the development of policies and procedures that address enhancing school climate, developing…

This guide presents information elementary school administrators need to develop and maintain good early childhood education programs for 4- and 5-year-olds. It also presents the curriculum principles that are relevant to both early childhood programs and the elementary grades. The guide will help principals and administrators recognize good early…

The state of Illinois is encouraging schools to better inspect and evaluate the causes of their pest infestation problems through use of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) guidelines developed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. This guide reviews the philosophy and organization of an IPM program for structural pests in schools,…

Confronted by a maturing staff, lower teacher turnover rates, declining enrollments, and more sophisticated instructional methods, the Bloomfield (New Jersey) Public School District adopted an ambitious staff development initiative in 1983. This paper describes the planning and implementation strategies used to launch Bloomfield's Teaching…

School-based planning for instructional improvement has been a major national education reform focus for over 2 decades. However, many efforts proposed to put schools in charge of their own instructional operations delivered only increased discretion rather than real autonomy over internal operations, such as budgeting. In 1997, New York City…

This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Home Secrets Program, in which parents of Head Start through fourth-grade students are invited to work with their children at home using a packet of teacher-developed activity sheets. Packets are available for each grade level; to receive them, parents must attend…