Arts education may well be one of the most important ingredients of an effective education. The story of the School Arts Support Initiative (SASI) serves as an exemplar of dynamic urban middle grades communities that seek to build and sustain a rich, holistic education for students in an era defined by high-stakes accountability. As this story…

In this article, the author offers suggestions for reconceptualizing the Teach for America (TFA) program. She recommends that TFA develop a residency training model with the following features: (1) Extend the program's current two-year commitment to three years; (2) Require first-year corps members to complete a residency year in an experienced…

This article describes a program created to improve mathematics instruction in a school district's lowest-performing schools. The program was initiated as a partnership among the University of North Carolina, Action Greensboro (a group of six local foundations), and Guilford County Schools that had a goal of attracting a full complement of…

This article discusses why the work of central-office administrators and building administrators seem so disconnected from one another. The fact that central-office administrators and principals seem to travel in orbits with different paths, with seemingly few areas of significant overlap, has a decidedly negative impact on the ability of the…

Such initiatives as one-to-one computing, laptop learning, and technology immersion are gaining momentum in middle level and high schools, but the key to their success is more than cutting-edge technology. Henrico County Public Schools, a pioneer in educational technology in Virginia, launched a one-to-one computing initiative in 2001. The…

The Southeast Center for Teaching Quality and Georgia State University sent research teams into six southeastern and southern states to find out if the increased accountability policies are having positive or negative effects at the classroom level. The teams found strong support for standards-based reform and for state accountability systems.…

The number of minority students in the schools is rapidly increasing. Simultaneously, the number of minority teachers is decreasing. Achievement gaps by minority students exists across the nation. Due to the lack of culturally responsive pedagogy and practice in their preparation programs, teachers have resorted to less effective measures in…