The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) recently launched the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) Minimum Service Package (MSP). The MSP can address the MHPSS needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises by helping stakeholders coordinate MHPSS responses within and across sectors, addressing gaps, advocating for needs, and…

There are many models and examples of family-school-community partnerships. Local to Savannah, Georgia, Parent University is a unique community organization designed to support, guide, and empower parents and their children (from birth to 18 years old) to build bridges between the community and the schools. This nonprofit has successfully…

To evaluate the extent to which California's school districts are engaging in continuous improvement, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) interviewed 41 educational leaders across the state. Three main ideas surfaced: (1) State data is insufficient for continuous improvement; (2) Some school districts are developing local data systems,…

Under emerging policy structures in California, the responsibility for school improvement is increasingly placed upon local school districts, with County Offices of Education (COEs) playing a critical support role. In this system, districts are responsible for school improvement, with counties in charge of ensuring quality across districts and…

This paper identifies the complex interactions of a multi-member partnership and outlines the synergetic opportunities and challenges within the model. At the core of the partnership model is the restoration of the waterways surrounding New York City through the reestablishment of the oyster into New York Harbor. The overarching goal was to…

Statistics education has begun to mature as a discipline distinct from mathematics education, creating new perspectives on the teaching and learning of statistics. This commentary emphasizes the importance of coordinating perspectives from statistics education and mathematics education through boundary interactions between the two communities of…

New educator evaluation systems demand a focus on effective teaching and learning while promoting the professional growth of all teachers. By identifying and leveraging the contributions of high-performing teachers as instructional leaders, problem solvers, and decision-makers to lead improvement at the classroom level, the system builds capacity…

At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, two collaborative initiatives took place in Springfield, MA, between the public school system and Baystate Medical Center, an affiliate of Tufts University. The success of these initiatives was highlighted during grand rounds that featured academic medical center physicians and nurses as well as public…

When the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards project began, there really was nowhere else to go but up. The project was up against great odds--a dearth of funding, a history of incivility amongst the disciplines within social studies, a knack for ending up in media battles over what should be taught in…

The U.S. military has long understood the value of immersive simulations in education. Before the Navy entrusts a ship to a crew, crew members must first practice and demonstrate their competency in a fully immersive, simulated environment. Why not teach students in the same way? K-12 educators in Pennsylvania, USA, recently did just that when…

For many students, school counselors and school psychologists are the initial and primary mental health service providers. The authors will articulate how these two professional groups can use complementary competencies to better serve students through collaborative efforts. Within the context of Response to Intervention and the CDCGP Model, a…

This article describes an innovative partnership between a state department of education, local school systems, and institutions of higher education aimed at increasing the number of effective teachers for high-poverty/ high-minority schools through collaborative partnerships, rigorous coursework, ongoing professional development, intensive…

Schools across the country are seeking creative ways to meet the high demands of school accountability. For example, in Montgomery (AL) Public Schools, "turnaround specialists" work at the direction of the local system's board of education. The district decided to treat turnaround specialists as partners who work with school principals…

Collaborative inter-professional practice (IPP) is hailed increasingly by policy-makers and a growing number of practitioners as "the" new form of professional practice for those working within and across services for children and young people. Based on desk research, and drawing upon an increasingly invasive use of the term…

What's the best way to train an aspiring principal? Partnerships between universities and districts focused on building school leaders are not the norm--but perhaps they should be. In recent reports, the Southern Regional Education Board has noted a need for universities and school districts to share the responsibility of preparing future…