Schools committed to the success of all children must have an array of activities designed to enable learning by addressing barriers to learning. An enabling component for schools encompasses six areas of program activity. This unit, "Introduction to Classroom Focused Enabling as a Key Element in Addressing Barriers to Student Learning," is the…

Between 2001 and 2005, the state of Maine shifted the focus of its statewide high school improvement efforts to include an explicit focus on adolescent literacy. One trigger for that change in focus was a 5-school adolescent literacy initiative previously launched in a rural county under the federal Northeast and Islands Regional Educational…

This study attempts to identify points of intersection between two layers of educational reform by analyzing how the goals of the program "Children Achieving" overlap with those of the federal Title I schoolwide programs in the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) School District. Children Achieving was a district-wide comprehensive restructuring…

This Digest examines the key issues surrounding the implementation of schoolwide reform. It discusses how whole-school reform results can be dramatic but that schools must take special care with implementing the reforms. It examines the importance of outside assistance in reform efforts and reports that design teams are typically used by schools…

This paper summarizes lessons learned from the creation and operation of a National Science Foundation-sponsored Engineering Education Coalition, the Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education (SUCCEED). Specific operational issues addressed include planning, organization, leadership, operations, support, participant…

Case studies of five small and isolated rural schools in the south-central United States examined their participation and success in the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program. The schools included three elementary schools and two K-12 unit schools serving 71-473 students. All were at least 50 miles from a metropolitan area and…

Comprehensive school reform efforts are an increasingly visible part of the educational landscape. Policymakers, educators, and researchers are eager to assess the effectiveness of these models, especially regarding their utility in the most troubled settings. This paper reports results from one such reform, the Talent Development Middle School…

Local schools and school districts lack organized information on school effectiveness to select programs and practices to meet their specific program improvement and implementation needs. Critical program features, implementation and training requirements, program costs, program-delivery systems, program impacts, and a host of other relevant…

This study is a retrospective examination of elements that influenced one elementary school staff to initiate and implement a school-wide innovation in their reading program in 1990-91. This school served 315 preschool children through grade three in a small town set in the rural countryside. Case study methodology was used to discover how the…

In responding to the emerging challenges to education in Asia and the Pacific in this new century, this Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) book series, "Educational Innovation for Development," is launched to reflect a knowledge base of rethinking on roles of education in development. The series…

During the 2000-2001 school year, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy conducted a study of how public high schools in Washington State are responding to state education reform. One aspect of the study was the experiences of high schools with various strategies to increase student engagement in learning. This paper summarizes study…

The process of reviewing and renewing a program of general education is complex, challenging, and often frustrating. This paper is presented with the aim of facilitating the process from inception to successful conclusion. Practical guidelines and suggestions, derived from long experience as faculty member, academic administrator, and consultant,…

Provides guidelines for systemic change in education. Presents an overview of the change process. Discusses preparing for change; building a core team to lead the design effort; transforming vision into system design; shifting focus from planning to implementation; and implementation, summative evaluation, and closure. (AEF)

This review considers studies of large-scale systemic reform initiatives aimed at mathematics and science education, especially those undertaken by state governments and the National Science Foundation. The implementation and effects of reforms can be understood in theoretical terms applied to the study of innovation and change. (SLD)