Developing schedules is one of the most challenging undertakings that school and district leaders do every year. It's also one of the most important. School schedules often have significant inefficiencies that impact student experiences and outcomes, like course offerings that don't align with student needs; mismatches in resources across schools;…

Rather than imposing more school after school, out-of-school-time (OST) programs can integrate literacy into their program activities--just as literacy is integrated into every aspect of everyday life. Program activities give participants opportunities to put literacy, math, and science skills to use in authentic contexts. However, OST staff…

The path towards leadership starts with you. But you don't have to go it alone. For this book, the authors sat down with many of the library leaders they most admire for a series of conversations about the aspects of the job that they find the most fascinating (and challenging). Much like the chats you might have over coffee at a conference or…

Learning is a constant in today's library world. Not only the students who use the school libraries, but the adults who facilitate the learning progress of these students are enticed, encouraged, and yes, sometimes, even forced to learn new things at alarming rates. Professional development (PD) must occur regularly in order to keep the library…

More and more districts--and several states--are adopting funding models like student-based budgeting (also called weighted student funding or fair student funding) to increase equity and promote principal autonomy. Giving school leaders new resources and new flexibility is a good first step, but it doesn't automatically lead to improved student…

The primary source of federal aid to elementary and secondary education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)--particularly its Title I-A program, which authorizes federal aid for the education of disadvantaged students. This report provides a brief overview of major provisions of the ESEA. It is organized by title and part of the…

Kim Farris-Berg, Edward J. Dirkswager and Amy Junge originally identified ten potential areas in which teachers could secure collective autonomy when conducting research for "Trusting Teachers with School Success: What Happens When Teachers Call the Shots." That list was developed from research about school decentralization and autonomy…

Private tuition-dependent universities in Central Asia compete for fee-paying students not only within the country and the region, but also internationally--in the CIS, East Asia, Europe, and the United States. In the universities where state financial support is limited or unavailable, steady student enrollment is the key to budget, development,…

After years of painful budget cuts, new revenues will begin to flow to California school districts in 2014. Thanks to the voters' approval of Proposition 30 and the adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), nearly all districts can expect budget increases over the next several years. In this report PACE offers guidance on…

Without adequate time and resources, it is impossible for school districts and schools to support professional learning that leads to effective teaching practices, supportive leadership, and improved student results. That's why one of the seven new standards in Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning focuses specifically on…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Who Deserves Tenure? Is It Time to Move beyond…

Fully updated to reflect current issues in the field of art education. Checklists embedded in charts allow users to indicate where their school or district stands in relation to the criteria--which has been expanded to include district wide, elementary, middle, high school, and superior standards. The criteria within the checklists reflect…

Even with the best planning and supportive implementation, one's school will experience challenges to achieving its vision of increased rigor. One of today's most serious issues is how schools can improve when resources are stagnant or even declining. Virtually every school faces dwindling resources and is caught between the expectation that…

During the 2010-2011 school year, McWhirter Elementary Professional Development Laboratory School in Webster, Texas, faced a significant reduction in funds available for professional learning. In this article, the author describes how videoconferencing sustained the school's professional learning initiatives on a shrinking budget. By rethinking…

With school budgets shrinking every year, tough decisions are made by those powers that be, and you very well may be the next RIF (reduction in force) waiting to happen. Sadly, those school librarians who have stopped learning, who have become stale in their role as librarian, or who feel the newer tools and ways of doing the job are not necessary…