American schools are being challenged to provide opportunities for students to achieve at much higher levels. Assessment is viewed as one of the essential elements in assisting schools to address the standards now deemed to be important in a manner that will help all students to achieve them. The major challenge for assessment is to implement…

This digest summarizes what is known about developing desired educational outcomes and anticipated time frames in specialized programs for students who are gifted. Learner outcomes are defined and characteristics of appropriate ones outlined. Next, the importance of identifying specific learner goals and outcome indicators is explained with…

Until 1993, the discussion of teacher education reform in the literature was limited to individual authors' suggestions for a vocational education response to reform initiatives and comments on the problems posed by pressures for reform. Debate on how to pursue excellence in vocational teacher education programs focused on vocational education's…

This synthesis of research findings translates investigations in instructional leadership into a working model for practitioners--principals, assistant principals, teachers, and others. Three kinds of research--theoretical, practical, and ethnographic--are used to develop a model based on six interrelated functions of instructional leadership,…

This book provides a conceptual scaffolding and practical guide for educators and evaluators as they respond to the challenges of diversity in schools. It introduces ways to assess the capacities of various professional development programs, curriculum transformation projects, diversity initiatives, and study abroad opportunities to realize…

Recent reports by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the National Research Council, the Mathematical Sciences Education Board, and the Board on Mathematical Sciences emphasize that coordinated improvement in the content of mathematics curriculum, classroom instruction, and teacher education is the key to improving mathematics…

This guide provides information about how middle schools can promote the development and education of adolescents, especially about how they can focus students' attention on career opportunities and training. It also offers families some ideas about how they can encourage their children's career awareness, and it presents some criteria for parents…

This "ERIC Flyer File" presents a collection of digests, minibibliographies, excerpts, and reprints on culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional learners. The collection of 18 items addresses 3 areas: assessment, curriculum and instruction, and parent involvement. The six resources on assessment focus on young Hispanic children…

Presented in this document are the results of the five focus groups involved in Project Synthesis, a research study designed to synthesize and interpret the information found in the three National Science Foundation-funded status studies (the literature review, the national survey, and the case studies "The Status of Pre-College Science,…