Over the past decade, school districts and states have made impressive advances in collecting and managing data used for accountability purposes. By the year 2011, all 50 states will have systems to track students from year to year. But in most states and districts, all the data generated by these systems flows only one way: up. This paper…

High-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs have a positive effect on youth development, but many cities have found it difficult to address the challenges of expanding and improving the quality of programs offered to underserved and high-need students. In response, The Wallace Foundation sponsored an initiative to help five cities increase…

This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an online professional development course designed to develop an understanding of the foundations, perspectives, and strategies used by key disciplines (e.g., occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, early childhood special education, visual…

This study examines the impact of a new Decision-Support System (DSS) on decision making in a community college in California. It looks at how attitudes and behaviors about data and their use were impacted by the implementation of a new DSS. The study found that the decentralization of data, through the DSS, produced a shift in terms of an…

In this article, the author relates his experiences leading the building of the School of Engineering within the new University of California (UC) campus of UC Merced. He discusses the goals of the project, as well as the challenges it faced, and concludes with personal lessons for those tasked with similar positions within university building…

A study was undertaken to summarize the results of the first 2 years of the Model Technology Schools (MTS) program in California. Research and evaluation reported from the five MTS schools were analyzed to provide information about basic questions. MTS projects involved the use of technology in instruction, administration, and school-community…

This descriptive study investigated the benefits and costs of using electronic portfolios (EPs) in preservice teacher education by examining the voices of students in six programs thought to be mature in their implementation. Benefits included opportunities to reflect, better access to and organization of professional documents, increased…

This paper discusses the role of libraries as the hub of information literacy in college and the need for professional collaboration to ensure library access for students with disabilities at California community college campuses. A working plan for developing assistive technology (AT) capabilities is provided which includes the following steps:…

The concept of data-driven professional development is both straight-forward and sensible. Implementing this approach is another story, which is why many administrators are turning to sophisticated tools to help manage data collection and analysis. These tools allow educators to assess and correlate student outcomes, instructional methods, and…