"Unscripted Possibilities" examines the potential for change that emerges in rural environments affected by poverty and educational reforms that ignore the specific contexts of rural schools. Using a National Writing Project program, the College, Career, and Community Writers Program, as a case, we argue that professional development…

This study reports on an investigation into the impact of a national, school-based teacher development programme on learning and teaching in Kenyan primary schools. Building on a national baseline study (n=102), 144 video-recorded lessons, covering the teaching of English, maths and science at Standards 3 and 6, were analysed to investigate…

Launched in 2003, "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count" is a multiyear national initiative designed to improve educational outcomes for community college students, particularly students of color and low-income students. Supported by Lumina Foundation for Education and other funders, the initiative has grown to include 98…

Since the 1960s, there have been continuing federal efforts to bring reform to scale in high-poverty elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. This paper traces the evolution of these efforts and discusses their impacts on achievement outcomes. Drawing on evidence from meta-analyses of the Title I evaluation literature and the Comprehensive…

This paper takes a large-scale social perspective in describing a national project in Australia that was premised on local school communities working together and contributing ideas for the benefit of their students, and potentially, the whole country. The project was intended to improve schools' capacity for educating boys, and in the long-term,…

This paper evaluates the impact of the New York Networks for School Renewal Project, a whole school reform initiated by the Annenberg Foundation as part of a nationwide reform strategy. It uses data on students in randomly chosen control schools to estimate impacts on student achievement, using an intent-to-treat design. After controlling for…

Assesses the status and direction of Japan's approach to schooling. Questions the emphasis placed on rote learning and on attainment of high scores. Outlines potential themes and problems to examine for reforming Japanese schools. (ML)

The author sketches the curricular and structural changes in schooling resulting from Spain's 1970 reform law instituting Basic General Education. He considers how well the system is operating 10 years later and whether it is providing schooling that is more democratic, more relevant to an industrial society, and more efficient. (Author/SJL)

This article discusses the comprehensive secondary schools which have so far been created in West Germany. It points out the ways they differ from English comprehensive schools, summarizes research results, and looks at teacher training needs. (SJL)

The Developmental Economic Education Program (DEEP) was launched in 1964 by the Joint Council on Economic Education as an experimental program in three school districts. By 1989 there were 1,836 school districts enrolled in DEEP, covering some 39 percent of the precollege student population. This book tells the story of DEEP, an effort to improve…

Although Japanese society has long valued and practiced lifelong learning, it has not yet been successful in building an ethic that prizes learning, teaches creativity, and includes everyone. Bureaucratic and legal mechanisms undertaken in Japan to promote lifelong learning have included the establishment of Lifelong Learning Councils, a system…

Four surveys were part of an evaluation of the Pew National Dental Education Program to help dental schools respond to the changing health care environment. Results show funded schools gained a better understanding of their environment, reported increased participation in and commitment to planning among constituencies, and implemented strategic…

This account reports on a commissioned strategic evaluation undertaken for the Australian National Training Authority on the qualitative impact of the introduction of Training Packages on vocational education and training clients. The research involved collecting the views of over 200 VET practitioners, bureaucrats and administrators, industry…

The author surveys the era of science innovation initiated by a bonanza of National Science Foundation funding from 1956 to 1976. He looks at the methods and materials that were developed and considers the extent to which this unprecedented national effort met, or is still pursuing, its goals. (Editor/SJL)

Discusses the evolution of state-level assessment activities of college graduates' skills/outcomes to provide a context for a proposed national system and examines extent and types of testing in six states. Addresses the purposes of postsecondary assessment and draws conclusions as to institutional support needed to sustain a collaborative system.…