Rather than merely dusting and polishing the old comfy stuff, these authors have spent 35 years trying to find out how people can learn to use new curriculums and ways of teaching. They have done some studies that would meet high standards of design, learned from peering at correlations, and stumbled on important things while teaching kids and…

The major challenge with time is finding it. Current school-day schedules and school-year calendars are leaner than ever because of budget reductions. States and districts have implemented furlough days to balance lean-and-mean budgets that show no sign of improving. Few are willing to take the leap toward reducing instructional time to improve…

Teachers and school leaders have been pressed to use data over the last few decades, and that pressure is increasing. Yet while data use has become a popular term among educators and politicians, evidence demonstrates that teachers and school leaders still struggle with making sense of data in the service of improved learning outcomes. To do this…

The rapidly changing world and the increasingly complex demands placed on schools because of that change has led to an increasing awareness that the school principal alone cannot provide all of the leadership necessary for school development. More and more school districts are asking teachers to share leadership responsibilities with school…

What kind of data does the Aldine (Texas) Independent School District collect on each of the 64,000 students in the system? The answer is: Traditional information--progress reports, grades, and state assessment results, including a statewide reading inventory given three times a year and state language acquisition tests. The school has a chart for…

Teacher education and professional development prepare teachers with up-to-date knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective teaching. To sustain this, however, hinges on continued professional learning within schools. Research shows that establishing long-term conditions that allow teachers to learn continuously from one another…

Schools and districts are beneficiaries of multiple opportunities to extend and enhance their core work of educating students through partnerships in two ways. These opportunities emerge either from invitations that come from outside the school and district, such as those from corporations, universities, or regional education agencies, or they are…

Recent state legislation in Michigan mandates that all graduating seniors successfully pass algebra I and II. Numerous initiatives have been enacted to help mathematics teachers meet this challenge, yet school principals have had little preparation for the necessary curricular and instructional changes. To address this unmet need, university-based…

The math problem is common to most U.S. school districts, and education leaders are well aware that U.S. math achievement lags far behind many other countries in the world. University Place (Washington) School District Superintendent Patti Banks found the conspicuous income gap for math scores even more disturbing. In her school district, only 23%…

The best science teachers are not only experts in teaching and knowledgeable about science content, but they are also great at teaching science. They have specialized teaching knowledge, including knowledge of effective pedagogical practices in science, student difficulties with understanding content, and curricular purposes. As a result,…

Administrators at Findlay City Schools had been researching methods to improve student achievement. District administrators decided to work to form professional learning communities to focus on improved student learning. Findlay High School had recently added a freshman wing to help students transition to high school and allow teachers to focus on…

The Jefferson County (Colorado) School district prepares teachers to lead staff development programs in four major areas: (1) implementation of new curriculum; (2) personal and professional growth of colleagues; (3) as educational consultants; and (4) as organizational development consultants. Examples of leadership training activities in each…

Finding time for teams to work in schools is both a necessity and a responsibility. If educators are sincere about efforts to improve student learning, leaders must take responsibility for providing team time for teachers and a structure in which they are able to work collaboratively. The Papillion-La Vista (Nebraska) Public Schools took to heart…

The mastery learning model called "Essentials, Correctives, and Enrichment" was adopted in the fall of 1982 in one elementary school in Goochland County, Virginia. The experiment has been expanded to all county elementary schools and is currently being implemented in the junior and senior high schools. (MT)

Describes the long-range efforts to develop a comprehensive, multitiered multicultural education program in the Columbus (Ohio) Public School District. The article includes discussions on the philosophical framework underlying the program, staff development, curriculum changes, program planning and evaluation, course descriptions, and program…