With support from a federal Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, the FAST (Families and Schools Together) program has been implemented in thirty Philadelphia schools to improve family engagement and, by extension, advance school turnaround. The project team includes the nonprofit Families and Schools Together, Inc.; the Early Childhood Education…

The "Alliance for Excellent Education" presents this Fact Sheet of answers to key questions raised surrounding implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Questions raised include: (1) What Are the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)?; (2) How Were the CCSS Developed?; (3) How Were the CCSS Adopted?; (4) What Changes in Instruction…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

This policy report provides an overview of the Common Core State Standards, how they were developed, the sources that were referenced in their development, the need for educational standards generally, what they entail, and what it will mean for educators to implement them. The report draws from research and reference material to outline the…

This brief summarizes efforts to reform developmental education at Zane State College and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Focused on accelerating student success and progress, the two schools pursued distinctive approaches to reform that aligned with their institutional missions and student populations. Recognizing that the…

The key aim of this paper is to introduce a standard-based model for adaptive e-learning platform for Mauritian academic institutions and to investigate the conditions and tools required to implement this model. The main forces of the system are that it allows collaborative learning, communication among user, and reduce considerable paper work.…

The author describes the use of action plans to support 2 teachers' post-in-service implementation of communication strategies with 3 children who are deafblind. In the action plans, the teachers recorded changes in thinking and instructional practices under the 4 aspects of communication: form, function, content, and context. They also recorded…

This paper highlights events and issues in the development of physical education as a school subject. From the origin of physical culture in the German and Swedish "Battle of the Gymnastics Systems" to the advent of the New Physical Education in 1927, physical education curriculum has been a contested terrain. This remains true today as physical…

As one means of serving their clients, Ginn and Co. made a commitment in the early 1980's to provide inservice workshops for teachers that more closely related to customer needs. The vehicle for assessing these needs and ultimately designing appropriate inservice activities is Stages of Concern about the Innovation (SoC), one of the diagnostic…

Describes the establishment, promotion, and five-year progress of a postadoption service in Hampshire, England. (SW)

Examines the changes initiated to reorient Kentucky's child welfare system to a family prevention model; this includes an examination of the model's goals, the implementation of the model, training of the staff, problems encountered by the initiation of the new model, and an evaluation of the model. (Author/BB)

This report describes how barriers to planning for children inappropriately placed in foster care were overcome in a 3-year demonstration project: Freeing Children for Permanent Placement, conducted by the Children's Services Division, Department of Social Services, State of Oregon. Clients, amount of effort made, personnel involved, social work…

Describes steps taken to recruit Blacks to adopt Black children in foster care. Procedures included establishing an advisory committee, educating the public about adoption, and obtaining the involvement and cooperation of local government and community action organizations. (DB)

Appraises foster care and advocates its change from a largely custodial system to one that is essentially treatment-oriented. Development of a placement continuum from least intrusive (day care) to most intrusive (hospitalization), with a variety of intermediate options including foster home care, is crucial. (NH)

It is suggested in this paper that practical arguments can be used in teacher education and staff development programs to introduce teachers to research-based practices. Practical arguments consist of three types of premises--value, empirical, and situational--that conclude with an action, or an intention to act. Such arguments are a useful way to…