Years of data show many students exit the U.S. educational system unprepared for college and career. In response, the White House launched the "My Brother's Keeper" (MBK) initiative, calling for the closing of opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color. SWIFT Center assembled a national task force to determine how SWIFT can…

This article integrates two frameworks, Quality Matters (QM) and tenants of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in the development and implementation of online learning courses. Both of these frameworks are described. This report highlights guidelines and presents an example for creating quality online courses with a combined emphasis on course…

Feeling that social studies has been sidelined by a test-driven focus on math and English/language arts, subject-matter specialists from more than a dozen states met last week with representatives of content-area groups to brainstorm ways to improve academic standards in that subject. The two-day gathering in Charlotte, N.C., is the third convened…

This paper presents eight practical guidelines that teachers can use to make core instruction more systematic and explicit for students with or at-risk for mathematics disabilities. In the paper, we use the notion of explicit and systematic instruction as a foundation for intensifying core math instruction. Explicit and systematic core instruction…

To reform a special education teacher preparation program can be gratifying, difficult, complex, political, and urgently needed. The Monarch Center, a federally funded technical assistance center, was established to guide and support minority-serving institutions in their efforts to improve their teacher preparation programs. Four guidelines…

The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) has taken a proactive stance on perceived test inequities of the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) exam as it relates to people who are prelingually deaf and hard of hearing. This article describes the process developed and implemented by the CRCC to help maximize test equity…

Test security is not an end in itself; it is important because we want to be able to make valid interpretations from test scores. In this article, I propose a framework for comprehensive test security systems: prevention, detection, investigation, and resolution. The article discusses threats to test security, roles and responsibilities, rigorous…

Whether a school library program is the picture of good health in a state that mandates a professionally staffed library media center in every building or is suffering in a low-wealth district that is facing drastic cuts, the recently launched toolkits by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) are stocked with useful strategies and…

The leadership of today's schools supports both students' academic success and their preparation for employment in a global work environment. As stimulus funds become available to U.S. school districts, it remains critical that technology leaders align technology acquired with those funds with system-, school-, and classroom-identified student…

A career academy is a small learning community within a high school, which selects a subset of students and teachers for a two-, three-, or four-year period. Students enter through a voluntary process; they must apply and be accepted, with parental knowledge and support. A career academy involves teachers from different subjects working together…

Although health education programs may benefit from quality improvement methods, scant resources exist to help practitioners apply these methods for program improvement. The purpose of this article is to describe the Data-to-Action framework, a process that guides practitioners through rapid-feedback cycles in order to generate actionable data to…

This article describes the creation of a First Year Experience learning community in a teacher education program. The First Year Experience model was adopted by the university because of declining enrollment, retention, and graduation rates and has been generally successful in the education department. With little information available for teacher…

The U.S. Department of Education's proposed guidelines for awarding $4 billion in Race to the Top Fund money send a strong message that any state hoping to land a competitive grant should expect to allow student test scores to be used in decisions about teacher compensation and evaluation. The draft plans outlined by department officials last…

In an effort to be comprehensive, schools often outline sweeping plans for improvement in multiple goal areas. Although well-intended, the efforts may be either too diffuse to have much impact, or so overwhelming that staff become immobilized. A school that chooses to proceed in too limited a manner, on the other hand, may run the risk of…

The topic of diagnostic error is a relatively new one in the academic arena and lacks an organized research agenda. Participants at "Diagnostic Error in Medicine-2008" formally considered this issue and provided initial suggestions. Recommendations were made to standardize taxonomies and definitions, especially in regard to what constitutes a…