Evidence-based practices represent an important advance in how effective instructional practices are conceptualized and identified, which has the potential to improve the educational outcomes of children with disabilities. Because parents have unique insights and knowledge regarding their children, special educators should collaborate with parents…

The authors' purpose for this article is to describe a K-12 public school district's journey to internalize and actualize its mission, strategic planning and vision as one coherent engagement using Lean principles and tools. Lean jointly comprises an organizational philosophy and management toolkit prominent in private, government, and nonprofit…

In order to thrive, organizations must undergo significant change at various points in their development. Such is the case with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Emotional Disability Services in the beginning process of implementing Response Ability Pathways (RAP) with staff and students. The impetus for change originated from an…

The author is a Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) Spanish teacher and works with students from K-6 at Little Run Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia. FLES is a program that had been implemented in her school district six years ago. Finding ways to motivate students to use and practice the foreign language outside the classroom is…

The pedagogical value of problem-based and inquiry-based learning activities has led to increased use of this approach in many courses. While scenarios or case studies were initially presented to learners as text-based material, the development of modern software technology provides the opportunity to deliver scenarios as e-learning modules,…

Successfully integrating educational technology--both hardware and digital content--into a K-8 school presents an immense challenge that is complicated by a loss of available funding. This article presents a seven-step-process guide--drawn from resources focused on affordability, accessibility, security, training, and educational…

Although there is some agreement in the field of education as to what constitutes a mentor and the roles and responsibilities of a mentor, mentoring programs vary drastically across states and across schools with respect to the amount of structure and the resources available to implement these programs. Too often, mentoring programs take on a…

Background: Obesity is a major concern among American Indians and Hispanics. The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) is an evidence-based intervention to prevent obesity in children enrolled in 16 Head Start (HS) Centers in rural communities. The design and implementation of CHILE are described. Methods: CHILE uses a…

This workbook guides a team in reviewing, revising, or replacing an existing professional learning system. The process outlined and the tools included support the team in conducting all aspects of its work, usually done over several months, with continuous progress monitoring and input from research, experts, and constituents. The workbook is…

This paper documents the formulation of a database driven open source architecture web development course. The design of a web-based curriculum faces many challenges: a) relative emphasis of client and server-side technologies, b) choice of a server-side language, and c) the cost and efficient delivery of a dynamic web development, database-driven…

The report aims to help education authorities in Norway and other OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries to understand the importance of lower secondary education and to find approaches to strengthen this key education level. It provides an overview of the structure of lower secondary education and the main…

This report is prepared pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute Section 23-3.3-901 to describe the monies allocated as part of the 2009-2010 Teach Colorado Grant Initiative and how the scholarships met the intent of the initiative. Senate Bill 08-133 established the Teach Colorado Grant Initiative (TCGI) to give financial incentives to college…

Single gender schools are rapidly growing in the United States. Understanding the rationale behind these models and identifying best practices is a necessity. The following report presents research-based and hands-on strategies in all-boys settings.

Educators can implement strategies to build positive relationships with students that will help them become more autonomous and less anonymous in school. These strategies allow young adolescents to become more self aware, to take greater responsibility for their actions, to reflect on their own lives and actions, and to have choices regarding…

Among the many challenges of professional (faculty, administration, and staff) development is the implementation of shared governance. We propose a model involving professional learning communities that we are experimenting with in our College of Education. This new model provides faculty with decision-making power, a sense of cooperation and…