This brief offers lessons learned from California State University teacher preparation programs engaged in using data to inform improvement efforts. The authors consider teacher preparation programs as systems that can undergo continuous, data-driven improvement through an improvement science approach. Teacher preparation programs typically have…

This study relied upon the lived experiences of deaf communities to develop community-driven solutions for eliminating employment and educational attainment gaps within deaf communities. "Community conversations," a community-based participatory research model, was used to engage a broad cross-section of deaf community members and…

California's school accountability and support system, the Statewide System of Support (System of Support), was designed to transform California's approach to school improvement. Rather than focusing on punitive consequences for underperformance, the System of Support is designed to provide education leaders and educators with needed support to…

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…

A. Ziegler and S. N. Phillipson draw upon the Actiotope Model of Giftedness (AMG) to give an overview of a systemic approach to gifted education. They argue the value of such a systemic approach for understanding the development of exceptionality. The reviewers certainly agree that the achievement of excellent performance is not only the result of…

Data-driven decision making has become increasingly important in education. Policymakers require educators to use data to inform practice. Although the policy emphasis is growing, what has not increased is attention to building human capacity around data use. Educators need to gain data literacy skills to inform practice. Although some…

The process of implementing Goal Attainment Scaling at the Reno Veterans' Administration Center Mental Health Service, where it had never been employed and where most of the staff had never heard of the technique, is described. The difficulties of introducing a unique measurement instrument such as Goal Attainment Scaling into an existing system…

Some of the leading players in adult learning and a few regular contributors of "Adults Learning" were asked about what they would like to see on the agendas of ministers in the new Government. This article shares and presents the thoughts of these players in adult learning. These include: (1) "Sounds like lifelong learning" by…

This document presents the Equipped for the Future Framework (EFF) content standards that were developed over a 6-year period by hundreds of adult education practitioners, experts, and others nationwide to create a working consensus on what adults need to know and be able to do in the 21st century. Chapter 1 defines adult literacy for the 21st…

This document proposes a comprehensive education and lifelong learning program for Wales through 2010. The primary goal of the proposal is to transform Wales into a learning country where high-quality, lifelong learning provides the skills people need to prosper in the new economy, liberates talent, extends opportunities, and empowers communities.…

The Digital Economic Opportunity Committee (DEOC) was created by the National Policy Association (NPA) in 2001 to confront the critical national shortage of workers with the information technology (IT) skills needed for the information age economy. The committee oversaw an 18-month workforce development research project titled Crossing the Digital…

Cyclical and structural issues in engineering skills formation in Great Britain were studied through a review of recent employment patterns, income patterns, employment projections, recent trends in education and training, and recent developments in technology and work organization. The review focused on the following issues: (1) the extent and…

This booklet, which is part of a series demonstrating the scope of employer involvement in school-to-careers, highlights the efforts of six manufacturing employers and three "intermediary" organizations connecting workplace experiences to classroom learning for secondary education students. The introduction presents a series overview and…

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…