For a school improvement initiative to succeed, education leaders must do more than adopt a new program and train staff. This issue of "SEDL Insights" explores steps that leaders can take to ensure the successful implementation of a new program or practice.

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…

This report: (1) identifies the main policies, objectives, and thrusts in the health manpower development (HMD) program of the World Health Organization (WHO); (2) identifies factors influencing or determining these policies, and examines how they have shaped the HMD program; (3) investigates how policy changes and achievements in health manpower…

The mission of education for Ohio's gifted students is to prepare them to be contributing members of society by providing appropriate programs and services designed to develop and maximize their unique abilities and enhance personal growth. To assist school districts with implementation of this mission, this strategic planning report recommends…

This booklet presents a model for changing an elementary and secondary school curriculum. In the first section, forms and resources are provided for analyzing change at the local level. The second section offers the following step-by-step guidelines for curriculum development: (1) identify components of the existing curriculum; (2) focus on skills…

A plan to establish an environmental scanning and forecasting system for colleges and universities is discussed as a way to maximize long-range planning. After proposing a program structure, attention is directed to methods of gaining organizational acceptance, developing a comprehensive taxonomy with an electronic filing system, identifying and…

PRISM, the Pittsburgh Research-Based Instructional Supervisory Model, was initiated when the superintendent convened an Instructional Leadership Committee (ILC) to develop a plan for improving instruction and instructional leadership within the district. The Pittsburgh Public Schools' Learning Research Development Center then conducted a…

Reports on a forum sponsored by the California State Department of Education in cooperation with the California School Boards Association and the Far West Laboratory for Education Research and Development, which was held to identify the most critical needs for educational technology in the state and to discuss possible strategies for meeting these…

This paper is one in a series of studies which highlight and synthesize recent research and practice in educational management. The paper presented here discusses recent research findings and current practice on the adoption, implementation, and integration of microcomputers into the instructional program at the elementary and secondary levels.…

This essay presents an approach to substantial and long-range curriculum change in three stages: planning, implementation, and evaluation. Planning, to which three quarters of the paper is devoted, is defined as a deliberate, collaborative, continuous process of determining and providing for the most effective manner to implement a change. The…

This paper describes some lessons learned from the first 2 years of Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation at the Coast Guard Academy (New London, Connecticut). Key issues for TQM adoption at the Academy included leadership, training, organization, total involvement, and measurement. It was found that top management must define the…

The on-going planning project described in this case study was implemented at Amarillo College (AC) to: (1) establish college goals and objectives through a process involving members of the college staff and the community; (2) improve staff and community support for the college's objectives; (3) provide a basis for institutional evaluation; and…

To discover whether school districts can develop highly rationalized forms of instructional management, this study gathered data from a telephone survey conducted in the school year 1983-84 of administrators in 30 western districts. The instructional management practices of these districts were then compared with an "ideal type" of…

School administrators in the 1980's must learn to provide stronger instructional leadership to improve student achievement and restore public confidence in education. School improvement will occur, however, only as a result of changes in attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Only when teachers have worked out their own concerns regarding a given…

This report, outlining the City College of San Francisco's (CCSF) Strategic Plan, begins with an overview of the institution's goals and strategies and provides background information on the plan's development. Part I, "Setting a Direction," offers information on CCSF's values and long-term institutional goals: (1) enhancing access; (2)…