The purpose of the brief is to provide examples from two state education agencies in the United States who took a different path to systemic change through the use of the Active Implementation Frameworks (Fixsen et al. 2013a; Metz & Bartley, 2012). Both states received intensive implementation-informed support from the State Implementation and…

"Teaching in Context" provides new evidence from a range of leading scholars showing that teachers become more effective when they work in organizations that support them in comprehensive and coordinated ways. The studies featured in the book suggest an alternative approach to enhancing teacher quality: creating conditions and school…

Identifies lessons learned from the State Systems Change Initiative on Transition for Youth with Disabilities, such as: (1) the need for such initiatives to recognize political, economic, and social factors; (2) the need for systems change to be a dynamic and continuous improvement process; and (3) the value of using federal legislative mandates…

This paper is a study of systems change in services to infants and toddlers with disabilities resulting from Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. It examines the process of moving from federal legislation to implementation in one state (New York) and offers practical strategies to change agents in order to maximize successful systemic…

Education reform, as a change process in daily teaching and learning activity, has never been easy. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a recent nationwide education reform initiative, demonstrates again that change is never easy and not always successful. As a matter of fact, "many innovations in education are either total or partial…

As the focus on school improvement at a state education agency moves from mostly a compliance approach to playing a greater role in capacity building, the agency's leadership needs to rethink student and learning supports. That is the focus of this report. Given that almost half of the chief state school officers have assumed their position in the…

Several decades of studies evaluating youth employment programs funded through the nation's second-chance system have demonstrated the shortcomings of programs that concentrate on work experience alone and try to reverse years of inadequate education, discrimination, and alienation in a few weeks or months. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act…

This document traces the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act as they proceeded through Congress. The following papers are included: "Preface" (Douglas Bedient and Michael D. Usdan); "Introduction" (John F. Jennings); "The Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Providing a World-Class…

State policies and activities for systematizing work force development were examined through a survey completed by individuals involved in work force development in 40 states and case studies of policies and programs in Texas, Utah, Florida, and Michigan. Throughout all levels of government and the private sector, consensus that work force…

This document is part of a five-module training package to help employment and training service providers comply with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 and develop a one-stop training and employment services system. It consists of the participant workbook, trainer manual, and activity worksheets for a module on partnering and…

Progress in integration of state-level welfare and work force development systems in the Midwest was examined through case studies of 10 communities in 7 states. The case studies focused on local-level coordination and/or integration between the welfare and work force development systems. Despite legislative mechanisms to encourage collaboration,…

This document is intended to provide New York schools, business/industry representatives, and others with resources to develop or further refine work-based learning (WBL) strategies or components. Section 1 presents background information on the following topics: (1) the scope of WBL; (2) foundations for the development of WBL; (3) categories of…

This document is intended to help Job Corps centers and Office of Acquisition Policy contractors establish linkages with one-stop systems. Chapter 1 summarizes the requirements for linkages between Job Corps and one-stop systems that are specified in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 and compares one-stop delivery systems before and under…

In the era of globalization, Malaysia's ability to remain economically competitive depends on the skills of its workforce. The policies and practices of Malaysia's vocational education system must be revised to do more to give the country's disabled citizens the training they need to find employment and become taxpayers. More concerted efforts are…

The evolution of Germany's dual apprenticeship system and the challenges now facing it were reviewed. The following topics were considered: (1) the progression from craft guilds to vocational training; (2) the history of Germany's dual apprenticeship system from its organization in the 1970s; (4) apprenticeship in the dual system; (3) Germany's…