An ethnographic study was conducted of the first year of implementation of the Accelerated Schools Project in a pilot middle school. The interaction between intervention and the existing school culture is studied through multiple interviews with teachers, support staff, administrators, students, and parents as well as observation and review of…

This two-part document, published in 1998, contains a report and blueprint that discuss the crisis facing California's system of higher education due to an influx of new students that the state cannot accommodate. The blueprint describes implementation of the report's recommendations for action include: (1) adopting strategies that smooth out the…

Through its efforts in 12 middle schools in 5 cities, The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Program for Disadvantaged Youth is trying to challenge the assumption that certain children are uneducable. The first steps in this program were detailed in "Gaining Ground," which described the thoughts and hopes of educators in 1989 through 1991…

This anthology of 58 pieces originally published in the "Journal of Experiential Education" focuses on the value of experiential learning and the need to incorporate direct experience in formal education. Chapter 1 summarizes and reviews the findings of "A Nation at Risk" and other major national reports on education. Chapter 2…

Historical and philosophical perspectives on college academic programs, current curriculum practices and agendas, and academic program development and implementation are considered in 20 articles in a reader designed for graduate classes in higher education administration. Titles and authors are as follows: "Frames of Reference" (Frederick…

The KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Diamond (Daring Individual Achievers Making Outstanding New Dreams) Academy, housed in Cypress Junior High School in Memphis, Tennessee, opened in the summer of 2002. KIPP goals include enhancement of academic achievement and promotion of positive student leadership through an innovative redesign of…

A study evaluated implementation of the California school-to-career initiative (STC) and its influence on student outcomes. It attempted to collect data from all local partnerships (LPs) receiving federal funding under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. Findings with respect to implementation indicated many schools offered career development…

A literature review examined educational research on school reform and vocational and technical education. The first area examined student risk factors in education, the state of the art in secondary vocational education (career and technical education or CTE), and the interplay of these new forms of CTE and other comprehensive school reform…

Following up on the SEL program guide, "Safe and Sound: An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs," this latest tool for front-line educators provides answers to questions frequently asked by educators, such as, "Now that I have selected a good program, how do I integrate it with the rest of what…

Properly conceived and implemented new initiatives are essential to improving schools and communities. Such new initiatives usually are pursued as projects, pilots, or demonstrations, with temporary funding and staffing. When the funding ends, more often than not much of what has been developed disappears. Sometimes this is appropriate (e.g., when…

As year 4 of a 7-year initiative to implement the School-to-Work (STW) Opportunities Act begins, 37 states have received implementation grants and 105 direct federally-funded and over 900 state-funded local partnerships exist. In 1997, technical assistance is available to any of the remaining 13 states ready for full-scale implementation. Notable…

This volume features the reform journeys of six American high schools. The six high schools portrayed here include four large comprehensive high schools (Oakland Technical High in Oakland, California, and Brighton High in Boston, Massachusetts, are urban; Sir Francis Drake in Marin County, California, and Rex Putnam in North Clackamas, Oregon, are…

Six of the first vocational education (VE) programs to adopt new voluntary national skill standards were studied to identify the opportunities and challenges faced by VE programs adopting the new standards. The VE programs studied were located in high schools in seven cities: Chalmette and Walker, Louisiana; Chicago, Illinois; L'Anse Creuse,…

This article describes how the Professional Development School without Walls, a partnership between the Departments of Special Education and Elementary Education at the University of South Florida and two large school districts, was developed; the challenges, needs, and contexts influencing the development and implementation process; and the…

As a result of rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT), dramatic changes are taking place in approaches to teaching and learning in university and school classrooms. These changes offer new opportunities to explore entirely new methods of instruction in teacher education. ICT provides alternatives to conventional…