This series of evaluation briefs explores the relationship between (a) school climate (as measured by the Brief School Climate Survey for elementary and secondary students), (b) student-level demographics, and (c) PBIS Fidelity (as measured by the Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI). All briefs in this series include the same introductory information…

This article describes the challenge of engaging educators in professional development (PD) that is timely and relevant to their work, and effective in stimulating instructional changes to improve student learning. The authors highlight the competing needs and goals for PD that create tensions among the external accountability demands, school…

To better understand the supports needed to positively impact student outcomes, the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has been examining several model demonstrations of PBIS implementation in schools residing within high need Local Education Agencies (LEAs). In particular, this brief provides an initial examination on…

Information systems programs have offered students opportunities for service learning in their curriculum through elective courses and through capstone courses. However, even though there have been numerous research studies showing the benefits of international service learning experiences, information systems programs have not yet developed these…

In this essay, we argue institutional lenses are a vital but largely missing part of understanding how 1:1 technology programs can effect change in teaching and learning in middle schools. Indeed, while current research highlights the positive effects of technology integration efforts, and 1:1 programs in particular have on student learning and…

Navigating the current STEM agendas and debates is complex and challenging. Perspectives on the nature of STEM education and how it should be implemented without losing discipline integrity, approaches to incorporating the arts (STEAM) and how equity in access to STEM education can be increased are just a few of the many issues faced by…

In conducting a literature review of 133 articles on cultural responsiveness in middle level education, we identified a lack of shared definitions, theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and foci, which made it difficult to synthesize across articles. Using a conceptual framework that required: a) clear definitions of terms; b) a…

Within the education field, international partnerships to address career development have been successful around the world (Brown, Bim Rose, & Hughes, 2005; Nazali, 2007; Prideaux, Patton, & Creed, 2002; Repetto, 2001). Career development programming impacts the educational development for children and adolescents (Gottfredson, 1981;…

The Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project was designed to develop principal leaders and leadership teams who create high-performing middle-grades schools. Designed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded from 2013 to 2017 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3)…

The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) released the results of an independent study that shows substantial gains in student achievement at schools participating in its Turnaround Arts initiative. The eight schools' in the pilot phase of the initiative, showing increases in reading and math scores, as well as an increase in…

This case was written for educators who are involved in organizational change such as school turnaround, new instructional programs, intervention programs, and implementation of new programs. It explores how a new administrator navigates the implementation of a response to intervention (RTI) pilot program and how instructional leaders create…

The reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 spurred sweeping changes for how special education students are identified in the United States. IDEA 2004 encourages schools to use Response to Intervention (RTI) as a new method for identifying special education students. As schools implement RTI, the principal…

This report analyzes the psychometric properties of the revised school-level SEL implementation rubric and the SEL specialists' activity log.

The importance of adolescent literacy is well established, and the topic continues to be of both local and national interest. Practitioners need to know not only which programs and practices appear effective, but which have the scientific evidence to support that claim. To identify effective programs and practices for general education students in…

If there is one thing that describes the trajectory of American education, it is this: more high-stakes testing. In the United States, the debates surrounding this trajectory can be so fierce that it feels like we are in uncharted waters. As Christopher Bjork reminds us in this study, however, we are not the first to make testing so central to…