This digest highlights the key features of the science education reform movement as it relates to curricula and classroom practices. The ideas presented here have been gleaned from the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, both of which elaborate ideas emerging from Project 2061 and other efforts that have…

Educational standards and accountability are at the center of an ongoing national debate on school reform that began almost 20 years ago. This debate has raised fundamental questions about school effectiveness and the strategies educators should use to boost student learning. This book provides a closer look at these questions and seeks to answer…

Many educators see school downsizing efforts as the linchpin of school restructuring. Several forms that school downsizing efforts are taking are explored, along with a discussion of the reasons for which small schools are being established. The types of subschools that are being launched (houses, mini-schools, schools-within-schools) are…

Communications technologies have the potential to transform the educational process. In the community college context, these technologies have the power to change the the roles of faculty. On one hand, these changes might mean a reduction in the number and status of teachers. On the other hand, communications technologies may afford teachers…

In recent years, professional development for public school educators has come to be seen as a key component of school improvement plans, particularly large-scale systemic change programs. This Digest outlines what research and best practice suggest about effective professional development for elementary and secondary teachers working in…

Through a series of organizational and instructional changes, comprehensive planning aims to make it possible for all children to reach the same high academic standards. Educators and parents of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students, as well as other members of tribal communities, must participate in this planning to ensure that the…

Professional development schools (PDS) offer significant promise for restructuring university-school district relationships around a common agenda of modeling exemplary practice, preparing teachers, and conducting research. Central to the success of such efforts will be the development of shared vision regarding the teaching profession and the…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 was adopted after the Kentucky Supreme Court declared the state's system of schools unconstitutional. The purpose of this study was to identify the sources of information about KERA and to describe community attitudes toward KERA in rural Kentucky school districts during the first few months the law…

The purpose of this volume is to provide a current view of the evolving professional development movement in community colleges. Chapter authors provide descriptions of how their institutions have addressed issues through professional development, created institutional change, developed new delivery systems, reached beyond development programs…

This guide for elementary Teacher preparation programs in science education comprises three sections: "Introduction"; "Guidelines"; and "Implementation." The reform efforts, particularly those pertaining to science education, are characterized by a shift towards shared responsibility for the preparation of teachers to…

This digest provides an overview of a new institution, the professional development school (PDS), and of its place in improving public schooling. The PDS is the result of a collaboration between universities and local school districts. In recent years, the literature has suggested that public schools as they exist today cannot adequately prepare…

The November 1994 symposium on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and literacy brought together ESL, literacy, and adult education professionals to share perspectives. Two keynote addresses are summarized: "Facing the Facts of Life, Literacy, and Work" (Shirley Brice Heath), which looks at trends in the nature of work…

Success for All (SFA), a schoolwide research-based reform model developed by Robert Slavin and his associates at Johns Hopkins University, is based on the premise that all students can and must succeed in the early grades. The program targets students in the lower grades, providing them with intensive instruction in language arts. This effort is…

The 119 annotations, as well as the other resources, that are included in this bibliography and resource guide relate to professional development schools (PDSs), professional practice schools, clinical schools, partner schools, and similar institutions. Because they are envisioned as exemplary settings where preservice, novice, and experienced…

Six national education goals to be achieved by the year 2000 were established by the federal government and the nation's governors in 1990. The five essays in this monograph examine some of the changes taking place in society and in schools and colleges that are related to the six goals. The "Introduction" (Marilyn Guy) is followed by…