Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies. Not all members of a community benefit equally, and some communities have been left out altogether. This paper is a guide for fostering digital inclusion throughout the United States so that everyone can take advantage of…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

Current programs to deal with childhood lead poisoning, the primary environmental disease of U.S. children, screen individual children, treat those with serious cases of lead poisoning, and subsequently return children to hazardous environments. This approach has led to repeated diagnoses of lead poisoning. This handbook is designed to convince…

Advisory groups have played an essential role in improving the school climate and conditions for young adolescents in schools. How middle school decision makers go about the process of designing or re-designing an advisory program needs to be considered. A discussion is presented of the background information that helps define advisories. It…

The current approach to dealing with childhood lead poisoning has led to repeated diagnoses of poisoning because such children are treated and then returned to their hazardous environments. This handbook describes in detail the program requirements for effective childhood lead poisoning prevention programs at the local level based on the…

This paper provides school district administrators with a structured method for developing school programs aimed at reducing the risk of adolescent dropout. The methodology encompasses problem definition, fact finding, mission management, overcoming inertia, cohering programs tied to theory, feasible goal-setting, and normative personnel…

This book offers advice to facilitators and change agents who wish to build systems-level learning to create knowledge that can be used to gain a competitive advantage. Chapter 1 describes forces driving companies to build, sustain, and effectively use systems-level learning and presents and links a working definition of the learning organization…

The central component of the University of Cincinnati's teacher education restructuring involved development of a pattern language based on research in architectural redesign. The language identifies areas of knowledge necessary for teaching and specifies the processes and structures for achieving goals. It allows incorporation of goals and values…

A new Chapter 1 law, P.L. 100-297, was passed in 1988. Chapter 1 schools must examine the program operated during the previous school year. Schools that fail to demonstrate overall achievement gains must develop a Program Improvement Plan (PIP), a document describing how the Chapter 1 program in that school will be modified. This guide provides a…

With budget limitations, additional expectations and accountability requirements, changing enrollment trends, teacher shortages, need for new kinds of services, and other difficulties faced by rural communities, partnership arrangements with the private sector and higher education promise new avenues for rural education to meet future obligations.…

This final report of a collaborative project to design teacher incentive structures describes the procedural development and results of studies conducted by participants composed of public and private school representatives, community members, the University of Toledo, and others. Part 1 includes details of such project planning processes as…

This guide, which is intended for planners, administrators, and staff involved in state and local welfare reform efforts, summarizes information about the "work first" approach to welfare reform that was gained from comprehensive evaluations of work first programs and discussions with program managers, practitioners, and participants.…

This collection of comments consists of four chapters of informal remarks by trustees, educators, and students from various types and sizes of institutions with innovative mainstreaming programs for handicapped students in postsecondary vocational education programs. Chapter 1 contains comments by nine individuals (students and administrators) on…

Even Start is a family literacy and support program for families with young children. This paper focuses on the impact and potential of transitions for children and adults as Even Start helps them move across settings. Such transitions occur daily, such as from home to day care to work, or occur over time, such as a transition to formal schooling.…

Intended for educators, this book aims to build their skills and confidence as they educate for social change. Chapter 1 is about strategy--factors to consider before getting involved in an educational program. It discusses the importance of putting oneself as an educator into the picture and of analyzing the broader social context in which…