This paper provides an overview of assessment policy and practice in mathematics for early years classrooms in New Zealand between 1993 and the present day. It describes the introduction of school entry assessment for children starting school at age five. A numeracy initiative, the Numeracy Development Projects (NDP), for students in Years 1-10…

The Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) has recently initiated a pilot project to develop a new prototype school, involving users in the design phase. This is the first time in Korea that users have been consulted on issues relating to school design. One of KEDI's objectives is to integrate specific elements into school design such as…

The status of primary science as a core subject has been gradually corroded in recent years, with the abolition of targets for science and the focus of the primary national strategy on literacy and numeracy. The NAIGS Committee were very well positioned within local authorities to pilot APP, but first had to write the criteria. Towards the end of…

In spite of numerous calls for action, e.g., Executive Office of the President (2010), there have been few efforts nationally to promote engineering education in the elementary grades. Of these, hardly any have targeted underrepresented populations (National Academy of Engineering, 2009, p. 74). The collaboration described in this paper is a…

Describes a pilot project to include the global approach in the curricula of six Washington, D.C., area elementary schools. Discussion of the project's evaluation is included. (IRT)

A Durham, New Hampshire, research team successfully pilot-tested an alternative to holistically scored, timed writing samples that corrects some evaluation shortcomings without added cost. The team used portfolios to measure production, perception, and reflection across a population of 27 randomly selected fifth graders. This method proved…

Since the mid 1990s, reading instruction has changed and so has the School Development Program's (SDP) Essentials of Literacy (EOL) process. Beginning as a teaching suggestion at one New Haven, Connecticut school, Lincoln Bassett, EOL became a pilot project at Davis Street School in New Haven for the 1996-1997 school year and continues to be an…

A computer-based curriculum program called Computers Helping Instruction and Learning Development (Project CHILD) has been tested in 82 classrooms in 10 elementary schools in Okaloosa County, Florida. As part of a sixth-grade follow-up study, students in Project CHILD had a B average in math and language arts versus a C average for students in a…

Academic Development Institute study found schools having greatest difficulty engaging parents were those with high concentrations of poor, single-parent families with many children. Project Better Day was designed to identify uninvolved parents whose grade 1-4 children were behind grade level; draw these parents into positive school relationship;…

At a Florida elementary school, the principal and teachers are piloting a curriculum of core knowledge developed over a four-year period by E.D. Hirsch, an advisory board, and a teacher/parent network. An appropriate core curriculum can provide all students with a foundation of knowledge for studying and appreciating the unique qualities of any…

Presents a pilot project that describes a model of counseling intervention using a consultant and counselor team, working with families (N=14) having children enrolled in elementary schools. Concludes that school counselors can, with training, develop basic family counseling skills. (LLL)

Describes the "Private Eye Project" developed by Seattle artist and writer Kerry Ruef and piloted by the Seattle Public Schools. Program materials include a loupe (a jeweler's magnifying glass) and a kit of specimens. Transformed by the loupe, the most ordinary objects present new, analogous worlds leading to poetic and artistic…

Before buying an integrated learning system, DeKalb (Georgia) County Schools developed a one-year pilot program to evaluate available products and select the best system. Performance assessment was based on three factors: student achievement, teachers' classroom management experiences, and district personnel's experiences in implementing and…

In 1992, collaborators from the San Marcos and Austin school districts, Southwest Texas State University, a regional education service center, and a telephone company formed the Center for Professional Development and Technology. Their goal was utilizing technology to redesign teacher education within a classroom context. Teachers learn to use…

Describes a pilot project that designed a teacher's guide integrating visits to an art museum with creative drama activities for a social studies unit on the American west. (PD)