This self-study guide provides state and local education agencies and schools with a tool to assess implementation of career readiness practices across a district or secondary school and to plan improvements. It is arranged by implementation areas that have been found to be important to career readiness efforts based on a review of the literature…

Student debt is a major barrier to adult student reengagement and degree completion. Institutional debt forgiveness is one approach to addressing the affordability barrier for returning students. This guidebook features an interview with leaders at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, who share details about the innovative debt-forgiveness…

While literacy interventions can be implemented in any grade, focusing on prevention and intervention in kindergarten through grade 2 is optimal because reading difficulties become expensive and challenging to remediate as students become older. The Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004 allows districts to do just this, with 15 percent of…

In November 2014, with broad bipartisan support, Congress reauthorized CCDBG [Child Care and Development Block Grant] (the major federal child care program) for the first time since 1996. The new law strengthens CCDBG's dual role as a major early childhood education program and a work support for low-income families. This implementation guide is…

This guide presents tasks a planning group should consider when implementing a program. Although implementation may not occur in this sequence, the total array of implementation tasks includes selecting a planning group leader, defining the problem, selecting objectives, designing the program, developing an implementation plan, developing an…

Tribal Child Care and Development Fund administrators work each day to ensure that the children and families in tribal communities have the child care services that best meet their needs. The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), a federal block grant for States, Tribes, and Territories, is a key resource to help increase the availability,…

Bringing together leading scholars, this book describes proven ways to enhance early literacy skills in 3- and 4-year-olds, especially those from low-income families. Presented are scientifically based methods and approaches that are being applied in Early Reading First programs around the country. Important topics include promoting oral language…

This manual provides a step-by-step methodology for promoting community participation in improving learning in local schools. The Civic Engagement for Education Reform in Central America (CERCA) School Report Card (SRC) approach empowers local school communities to gather information on the quality and conditions of teaching and learning in their…

This document presents a discussion of how to set up an on-campus peer support system designed to help college students cope with stress. The possible functions of a peer support center are outlined and features of a proposal for such a center are listed, including a clear mandate of the center, a rationale for the services to be provided, a list…

This manual provides a step by step guide, delineating the process by which an external agency can work with State Education Agencies (SEAs) to help increase the participation of ethnic minorities and women in educational research and development and management. Based on a model program designed and implemented by Research for Better Schools…

The Unitas Therapeutic Community is a mental health treatment and prevention program for Hispanic and Black children and teenagers in the South Bronx, New York City. Based on theories of therapeutic community and social psychology, Unitas stresses psychological methodologies that cultivate the healing potential present in all interpersonal…

The materials in this manual are designed to help workshop leaders prepare for and present workshops for school board members on a process of self-assessment for the school board or the district management team. Two levels of workshop are treated: the first level is designed for presentation in a large group format and introduces the concepts…

This publication is intended to assist Holmes Group institutions of higher learning in designing and implementing more effective programs to recruit and retain minority candidates in teacher education. Information from many sources, including the literature, was synthesized, and certain principles emerged as keys to diversifying the teaching…

This guide deals with the implementation of the Career Intern Program (CIP), a major component of the Urban Career Education Center (UCEC) of Philadelphia, an alternative approach to the traditional educational system which emphasizes career development. The guide offers initial suggested procedures for local administrators to follow in developing…

The Affirmative Action Plan of the New York State Education Department is described in this document. First, a policy statement is provided by the New York State Education Department, committing the Department to the development of: (1) programmatic approaches to the elimination of all unjust exclusionary employment practices, policies, and…