College- and career-readiness skills can easily get lost if you don't have a clear school-wide plan for teaching them. While curriculum in schools is primarily meant to ready students for college and career skills, ensuring those skills actually transfer is another story. Andrew Miller lays out a system for teaching and assessing key…

A former Teach for America recruit who completed her training in a university-based program compares the two approaches to teacher preparation. In Teach for America, she learned how to design units and prepare lesson plans; in her university-based program, she had the time to learn from master teachers and build valuable skills, then practice…

Recommends that schools experiment with a comprehensive formative evaluation system suggested by "A Study of Schooling" by John Goodlad and his associates. The system includes periodic assessment of such things as student achievement, teaching practices, class climates, adult working environments, and parent attitudes. (Author/JM)

Developing technology literacy for faculty, staff, and students is critical to a successful technology program. The technology inservice program designed for a Selmer, Tennessee, high school addressed core skills, best adult-learning practices and places, and evaluation considerations. Creating a small room dedicated to continuous technology…

After studying numerous schools involved in restructuring, Fred Newmann and his research team concluded that reform-minded schools must address how learning can have intellectual quality and communities of learners can be built. This interview summarizes insights from five studies recently published by the Center on Organization and Restructuring…

Skillfully interviewing students can elicit useful information about the quality of the educational program. (JM)

The core of adversary evaluation is the existence of opposing viewpoints, not adherence to existing formats for presenting them. Suggests that evaluators develop adversary methods more appropriate for education. (Author/MLF)

Describes an inservice program used by the Los Angeles School District for training school administrators, program coordinators, and instructional staff members in developing plans for implementing and evaluating instructional programs. (JG)

Discusses the development of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and describes how its methods and materials are being used in Nebraska, Connecticut, Maine, and other states as a tool to improve educational programs. (Author/JG) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Utilization).

Eisner's educational criticism model produces a richer description of an English classroom than does Flanders' interaction analysis. (Author)

Describes how the Dallas Independent School District uses the research and development concept of context evaluation to help direct changes in instructional systems, materials, and methodology. (Author/JG)

Presents suggestions for developing meaningful changes in social studies curriculum and reviews past educational social studies programs. (RK)

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)

An evaluative study of teacher centers suggests that they make an impact upon classroom performance of teachers, improving their confidence and their relationship with pupils. (JD)