Afterschool programs have been operating for decades in communities across the country, and federal investment in afterschool has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. However, even more investment in the field of afterschool, which includes before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs, is needed to keep up with the growing…

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…

Several decades of research have suggested a meaningful relationship between time and learning, where the amount of time students spend engaged in learning is strongly associated with their level of achievement. Among schools that have expanded the day and/or year, researchers have found that such a strategy can be quite effective, especially with…

Over the past few years, the focus group method has assumed a very important role as a method for collecting qualitative data in social and behavioural science research. This article elucidates theoretical and practical problems and prospects associated with the use of focus groups as a qualitative research method in social and behavioural science…

Any curriculum consists of several components: goals, disposition, duration, needs analysis, learners and teachers, exercises and activities, resources, ways of learning, skills to be acquired, lexis, language structure, and ability assessment. Before setting up a program or course of study, these components should be determined and described in…

This report is the culmination of the "Flexible Pedagogies: Preparing for the Future" series of reports which have considered flexible learning from a range of perspectives. The report proposes fifteen conditions of flexibility to inject new thinking and new practices into an emerging new age. Flexible provision has the potential to…

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) provides the Summary of Key Operating Statistics (KOS) as an annual review of the performance and key measurements of the more than 800 private post-secondary institutions we accredit. This edition of the KOS contains information based on the 2009 Annual Institutional Reports…

This paper discusses utilizing course objectives to drive the change of existing 10-15 week undergraduate courses into 8-week courses that feature blended learning tools. To begin the redesign process, instructors and a faculty mentor revisit course objectives for currency, and with an eye toward blended course restructuring. The restructuring is…

Student participation in short-term programs abroad (both credit and noncredit) has grown exponentially in recent years and now represents the primary international experience for a significant percentage of U.S. college and university students. Recognizing this, the Forum Standards Committee saw a need for a more specific set of standards that…

The amount of time allocated for learning and the way that time is used is one of the few variables that can be influenced rather directly by school leaders. Fortunately, it is also a variable that has shown consistent links to student performance. Now that schools are focused directly, and in some cases exclusively, on student achievement, there…

Under enormous pressure to prepare students for a successful future--and fearful that standard school hours do not offer enough time to do so--educators, policymakers, and community activists are adding more learning time to children's lives. Twenty-five years ago, the still-resonant report "A Nation at Risk" urged schools to add more time--an…

Throughout the nation, public school kindergartens are moving from half-day to extended or full-day sessions. Reasons for the transition are given. Parental involvement in planning is discussed. (MT)

This article reports that some graduate programs are switching from comprehensive qualifying exams to portfolios compiled by doctoral candidates. Five years ago the graduate program at the University of Kansas' history department was like many others--filled with small cohorts of anxious, fearful procrastinators. Doctoral students were taking an…

This study describes special education alternative route (AR) teacher preparation programs. The authors developed a national database of programs and collected information on program sponsorship, length and intensity, features, and participant demographics. Most of the 235 programs in the database were in states that had significant shortages of…

Highlighted in this paper are several hidden costs entailed by mandating that all teachers be prepared through 5 or 6 years of teacher education, with the professional part of that preparation occurring at the graduate level. Four areas where mandating extended preparation may lead to hidden costs are identified: (1) encouraging a focus on…