New teacher attrition is a serious problem, with some studies estimating that 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first few years. This high attrition rate means that many schools have large number of inexperienced teachers and that districts must spend scarce funds for recruitment and replacement costs. Springfield Public…

By studying survey data from 1,000 teachers participating in a Title II workshop, researchers identified three structural features (form, duration, and collective participation) that set a proper context for professional development. Three core features of professional-development learning experience include content focus, active learning, and…

Staff at a Louisville, Kentucky, school have created a caring community of learners whose members feel valued, personally interconnected, and committed to everyone's growth and learning. Child Development Project schools emphasize warm, supportive, and stable relationships; constructive learning; intrinsic motivation; a challenging curriculum; and…

After-school program participation is associated with higher grades and test scores, especially for low-income students. Programs come in three types: school-age childcare, youth development, and educational after-school programs. Few programs meet students' needs, due to inadequate funding, poorly trained leadership, transient staff,…

When 29 percent of final grades for students at Bendle Middle School showed up as Ds and Es, teachers knew something had to give. Kenkel, Hoelscher, and West describe how the ABCI approach, based on mastery learning, shook up a community culture of low expectations for working class kids, and opened the way for more appropriate teaching methods…

Research evidence shows that mastery learning is much more effective than conventional methods; however, it is not yet known whether it works equally well for all kinds of learning and for all kinds of students. (Author/JM)

During its trip to India in 2006, the ASCD Board of Directors visited the Katha School, which is located in a high-poverty section of Delhi. The Katha School began in 1989 with five students. It now houses 1,450 students, with hundreds on a list waiting to get in. Part of the Kalpavriksham Centre for Sustainable Learning, the school is the main…

Thanks to a joint effort between the Orange County (Florida) Schools and Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, nonreading middle schoolers are moving beyond shame to conquer literacy problems. Students participate daily in a learning lab employing multimedia software designed to improve word recognition, reading comprehension, and spelling…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT A meta-analysis of 80 third-party evaluations (all that were conducted) of Experience-Based Career Education programs shows that in the large majority of programs: (1) EBCE students made large gains not only in career skills and life attitudes but also in academic skills; (2) EBCE students gained…

Two recent studies have concluded that integrated learning systems have enormous potential but are seldom fully implemented. ILSs can transform classrooms if accompanied by increased time-on-task, computerized learning resources, effective assessment and reporting, guaranteed individualized instruction, and facilitative teachers. Sound…

A meta-analysis of inservice teacher education research determines the significance of the following factors for learning effectiveness: training objectives, training duration, training group characteristics, location and scheduling, sponsorship, participant incentives, structure, and instructional technique. Suggestions to help staff developers…

Chicago's mastery learning program takes into account the complexities of reading and the realities of urban classrooms. Its designers say that if a program does not lead to success, it is not a mastery learning program. (Author/JM)

Having established that mastery learning works, researchers are beginning to investigate components of the system and theorists are integrating it with other recent trends. (Author)

This review of the literature highlights research-based ways to improve schools and classrooms. Emphasis is on student time-on-task, effective teacher behaviors, and positive teacher supervision. (JM)

To make sense of the complex information taught in the upper elementary grades -- and to understand the language that increasingly appears in high-stakes tests--students must be proficient in academic English. English language learners are at a serious disadvantage. Two word problems in mathematics illustrate the difficulties that these students…