A leadership academy is a formal professional learning opportunity for current school leaders, focused on augmenting knowledge and skills, increasing specialization, and refreshing leadership practices. States interested in supporting leadership academies through federal or other funding sources can look to current models of leadership academies…

The instructional programs educators design to help English Learner (EL) students work toward English proficiency look different in schools across the United States. This is due in part to the variety of approaches K-12 educators take to important questions such as: Should the program foster bilingualism or focus solely on English? Should ELs…

The Hawai'i State Department of Education is excited to provide a comprehensive menu of engaging summer learning opportunities for students in the upcoming summer months. This summer, offerings will span all grade levels, from a transition program for incoming kindergartners to paid summer internships for our graduating seniors. Schools have…

Many districts are expanding and diversifying the school options available to parents--a trend that shows no signs of reversing. While all public schools are required to test and publically report results, it remains nearly impossible for families and education and civic leaders to make school-to-school comparisons, especially across district-run…

This guidebook will help the staff members of education agencies gain an understanding of what Education Enterprise Architecture (EEA) is and how it can help an agency accomplish its vision and goals. The audiences for this guidebook include agency staff already charged with leading agency-wide planning and implementation that encompasses the…

If you are looking for an organic approach to purpose-driven professional learning, this is the book for you. Award-winning educator Lois Brown Easton's latest work provides a compelling case study in narrative form, a chronological PLC planning outline, and first-hand "lessons learned" about how PLCs develop, mature, and sustain themselves. You…

Commissioner's Rules Concerning the State Plan for Educating English Language Learners (ELLs) states that all school districts that are required to provide bilingual education and/or English as a second language (ESL) programs establish and operate a Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC). The LPACs are charged with reviewing all…

TIMSS measures trends in mathematics and science achievement at the fourth and eighth grades in participating countries around the world, while also monitoring curricular implementation and identifying promising instructional practices. Conducted on a regular 4-year cycle, TIMSS has assessed mathematics and science in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and…

As part of its work to advance the multiple pathways approach to high school education, the James Irvine Foundation engaged the Bridgespan Group to develop a framework for assessing the nature and needs of the fields in which nonprofits operate. These agents of change often struggle to understand how to focus their field-building investments and…

In this companion to "Opening Doors", Friedman and Webb provide more helpful, hand-on tips for bringing SEM to life in your school. Readers learn, step-by-step, how to create a schedule that includes a weekly E-Slot for enrichment learning experiences as well as ideas for injecting interest-based experiences into the E-Slot, regular curriculum,…

The purpose of the federally funded Title I program is to help disadvantaged students meet the same high academic standards expected of all children. The most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This education bill was enacted on January 8, 2002 and has established…

Afterschool programs are rich with educational opportunities. Programs can make what is learned during the traditional day vibrant and relevant to the lives of children. Comprehensive programs that are integrated into the regular school program and draw on resources within the community can yield positive outcomes for children. Key to this…

The United States Department of Education's (Department or ED) Public Charter Schools Program (PCSP) provides support for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools; the evaluation of the effects of charter schools; and the dissemination of information about charter schools and successful practices in charter…

Finding and hiring highly qualified candidates in today's education marketplace can be as frustrating and demanding as it is rewarding and satisfying. National projections suggest special education personnel shortages in the coming years may tax the ability of schools to provide services for children with disabilities. While teacher turnover rates…

The goal of this guide is to provide information, support and practical tools that may help educators design, implement, and evaluate their school's standards-based education program. In order to work, a comprehensive, standards-based educational program must, by definition, be the organizing structure upon which the school program operates.…