Using data strategically to guide decisions and actions can have a positive effect on education practices and processes. This facilitation guide shows education data teams how to move beyond simply reporting data to applying data to direct strategic action. Using guiding questions, suggested activities, and activity forms, this guide provides…

David C. Berliner's title paper is a research review which explores factors that can be controlled or influenced by teachers and that are known to affect student behavior, attitudes, and achievement. Pre-instructional factors include decisions about content, time allocation, pacing, grouping, and activity structures. "During-Instruction"…

An overview is presented of research findings on how teacher expectations of student performance may alter the ways that teachers treat students, and the possible negative effects of such differential treatment on the behavior and learning of students for whom the teacher holds low expectations. A discussion follows on the teaching implications of…

An overview of research studies on the relationship among time factors and student achievement is presented. The California Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study is cited as a seminal work in this area. A brief summary of findings on allocated time, engaged time, and academic learning time includes a discussion on how these studies have been expanded…

Results of a questionnaire on instructional leadership administered to elementary school principals and teachers in California confirmed literature findings that instructional leadership behavior significantly influences student achievement. The study sought to determine (1) the 29 most important instructional leadership behaviors through…

To assist in local school improvement, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) has developed an approach in which teams of local educational leaders are made aware of the results of effective schooling research and are trained in the processes of change and improvement. Research reviews have shown specific elements of schooling at the…

The mission of the Mid-continental Regional Education Laboratory (McREL) is to improve practice and increase academic performance in the schools of the seven-state mountain-plains region. McREL's principal approach to the dissemination and utilization of the effective schools research has been training teachers to use research. Based on the…

This report highlights the research on how schools across the country have successfully transformed themselves into high-performing schools. It provides suggestions for how school leaders can use this knowledge base as they examine their schools' instructional and administrative practices. Chapter titles reflect the contents: (1)…

This document explores teaching and learning of mathematics apart from what mathematics content is being taught. Cooperative learning and peer tutoring are seen as effective alternatives for providing mathematics instruction in secondary schools. The physical and intellectual environments of the classroom are discussed, with special attention paid…

Asserts that educators hold particular views about the nature of learning and its relationship to student assessment. Argues that educational objectives of education for meaning and life-long learning are unlikely to be achieved unless student assessment reflects the same theoretical principles. (CFR)

To broaden the scope of effective schools research by including change processes and a wider unit of study, this project investigated three Georgia school districts demonstrating improvements in student achievement for three consecutive years. Research identified these elements: (1) the sequence and influence of events, factors, and people…