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.

As part of its work to advance the multiple pathways approach to high school education, the James Irvine Foundation engaged the Bridgespan Group to develop a framework for assessing the nature and needs of the fields in which nonprofits operate. These agents of change often struggle to understand how to focus their field-building investments and…

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…

Identifies district administrators' responsibilities for implementing Tennessee's Comprehensive Education Reform Act. Lists 11 short-range plans concerned with distributing career ladder information and determining and executing staff development and evaluation plans. Suggests 10 questions regarding evaluation and staff development which need to…

A program planning model developed in collaboration with primary decision makers and program planners is described in this study. A 6-month pilot test of the planning document was evaluated by a followup questionnaire of program planners and decision makers. Results indicate that a majority of the respondents viewed the planning model as…

Discusses the formation of the German Parliament's Commission on Future Educational Policy and its 1990 recommendations. Describes reactions of German lawmakers and issues associated with the implementation of the commission's recommendations. Addresses problems posed by the unification of Germany and the integration of the European Community.…

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…

This report presents the University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College's (KCC's) 1997-2002 Academic Development Plan. The report contains seven sections. Section 1 describes the college, enrollment numbers, and faculty and staff numbers. A total of 16,400 students are enrolled, and 330 faculty members and 126 staff members are employed. Section…

Development planning has recently become a commonly adopted strategy for school improvement in the United Kingdom. Development planning is a description and more formal explication of the process and actions required to plan and manage change with the intention of improving the school. The chapters in this book report on the "state of the…

In 1989, the president of Lamar Community College (LCC) in Colorado, together with 14 classified, faculty, and administrative staff, attended a workshop on educational quality at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) in an effort to begin implementing a Total Quality Management process at LCC. Following the workshop, attendees from LCC organized the…

This dissertation details a plan for integrating multimedia technology into the learning environment at Northern Maine Technical College (NMTC), considering available hardware and software, the implications for campus-based and distance education, and needs for instructional, organizational, and human resource development. A literature review…

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 Planning Resource Guide by the RP Group of California Community Colleges was created to provide practical planning assistance. It contains four sections, including: (1) a basic conceptual framework for planning; (2) common planning definitions for colleges; (3) planning steps and samples of planning structures; and (4) suggestions for linking…

Strategic planning is a technique that has been developed to help managers and leaders address the need for organizational transformation in response to societal change. Its elements include external environmental scanning, internal capacity analysis, participation and involvement, mission and strategic goals, implementation/linkage plans, and…

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…