We summarize the experiences and outcomes for 'discipline-based education specialists' involved with a large-scale, 10-year initiative: the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia. A key aspect of the initiative was the hiring of these specialists into academic departments where they held graduate-level…

This study investigates the effectiveness of a solution-focused approach to organisational change. Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH) is an intervention more commonly applied to individuals. In this study the intervention is used with groups of people working in educational organisations to help manage the change process. The approach…

Does teacher professional development make a difference? How do we know? While researchers and policy-makers acknowledge that teacher professional development (PD) needs to be assessed and evaluated, there is often little clarity as to how this can be achieved. Evaluation of teacher PD by schools has been described as the weak link in the PD chain…

Over the past thirty-five years, the rates of retention and graduation among African American males attending colleges and universities in the U.S. have declined. Many institutions of higher education have responded to this problem by reexamining their efforts at retaining and graduating Black males. Interventions are being created across the…

Purpose: With the aim of contributing to the evidence base on school-based health promotion, the authors discuss the outcomes and processes of a European intervention project aiming to prevent obesity among children (4-16 years) and promote their health and well-being, titled "Shape Up: a school-community approach to influencing determinants…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceived implications that principal leadership has on transforming a large comprehensive high school into smaller learning communities (SLCs); and to speculate on possible factors that contribute to the change process after the implementation of SLCs. The study explores the roles,…

In 2006, Governor Edward Rendell announced a three-year, $200 million Classrooms for the Future program to provide technology and technology support to schools across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, beginning in the 2006-2007 school year. The purpose of this research study is to examine the change process of the diffusion of technology within…

This article describes the outcomes of field-based efforts to increase diversity in agricultural education programs and the FFA. This study focused on three schools in San Antonio, Texas. Guided by Rogers' (2003) theories of diffusion of innovations, a series of six intervention strategies was implemented: (a) provide specific FFA or agricultural…

This qualitative case study investigated the impact of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding on the providers and planners of programs for incumbent workers in one Midwest WIA region. It examines the collaboration and power conflicts that are part of planning and implementing this legislation for the stakeholders. The study applied Matland's…

When the five-member Board of the Alameda Unified School District selected Kirsten Vital as the new superintendent in 2009, they chose someone from outside their tight-knit community. Board Trustee Margie Sherratt thought Vital was chosen to "get us moving," to be a change agent on closing the achievement gap. Vital, in her initial…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to analyze enabling factors in the technology integration change process in a multi-section science methods course, SCIED 408 (pseudonym), from 1997 to 2003 at a large northeastern university in the United States. We used two major data collection methods, in-depth interviewing and document reviews.…

A request from the Ford Foundation prompted a fourth and final assessment of the demonstration phase of the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI), established by the Ford Foundation. Between 1994 to 2002, 24 community colleges answered the foundation's charge to improve access to higher education and to expand the economic development of their…

The author contrasts two experiences (one successful, one unsuccessful) that he, as a consultant, had in implementing organizational development programs in two settings: a federal agency and a community college. Briefly discusses factors for consultants to consider when making decisions about which kinds of organizational development assignments…

A brief literature review and a report on two studies of change implementation in schools indicate that "directed development," in which experts give help directly to classroom teachers, is the most effective implementation strategy. The author's literature review traces research on program implementation from a 1975 Rand report…