More and more cities and counties fund and run their own early childhood programs, but each seems to operate them in its own unique way. While the opportunity to design and build a new program can be inspiring, the process itself can be painstaking and fraught with second guesses. Unfortunately, there are few resources to help policymakers and…

Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and…

The papers presented in this monograph describe some of the experiences of nine Teacher Corps projects in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs to foster community involvement in the schools. Community representation is reflected in groups of individuals which may be called the Community Council, Advisory Committee, or Steering…

Fourteen research studies were conducted on exemplary practices in experienced teachers' centers, focusing upon specific interests or concerns of those operating or otherwise supporting the centers. Research was funded through small awards which would allow teacher center practitioners to collaborate with researchers to develop knowledge about…

This paper examines how to encourage widespread adoption of comprehensive school-reform models--adoption outside the schools and districts that took part in the development process. It refers to such models as "design-based" schools. The paper defines what is meant by a school design and describes receptive school and district…

This is a report on a survey of the heads of education units, faculty, and students in United States higher education institutions that prepare teachers. Questionnaires were sent to administrative officials of teacher education institutions, faculty of these institutions, and students. The size of the selected schools ranged from small colleges to…