The primary purpose of this Guide is to provide a blueprint for the development, revision, and implementation of state social studies standards. The process described herein offers opportunities for a range of stakeholder groups to engage in discussions around promising approaches and strategies that strategically advance implementation goals. It…

Establishing professional communities of educators from districts and schools has gained popularity as a mechanism for collaboratively thinking through and enacting change in education. In 2013, 10 California school districts received grant funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation ("the Foundation") to participate in the Math in…

School principals are charged with complex responsibilities that can include developing a school vision and culture, supporting teacher effectiveness, managing challenges and crises, communicating with the greater community, and more. However, recent research and surveys of school administrators indicate that principal preparation programs do not…

School principals are charged with complex responsibilities that can include developing a school vision and culture, supporting teacher effectiveness, managing challenges and crises, communicating with the greater community, and more. However, recent research and surveys of school administrators indicate that principal preparation programs do not…

With the enactment of the National Education Standards (NES), the measurement of the school quality was clear; NES became a reference for school development program to improve the school quality. However, the form of the program that exist still in problematic, so that a good proposal need to be prepared. In the real condition, the school shows,…

The increasing emphasis on the myriad of leadership preparation standards have caused university principal preparation programs to necessarily focus on the more secular aspect of leading schools. For the Catholic school principal, this has left little focus on the development of critical strategies to lead for Catholic Identity and faith…

This article links research and practice through discussion of policy's conceptual aspects illustrated through real-world examples. Gifted education policy essentials, identification, curriculum and services, personnel preparation, and program management, assessment, and evaluation are described. Examples from studies of one state help the reader…

Developing a music program based on quality curriculum is the key to success. The purpose of my research was to explore whether teachers used curriculum for quality control in an Elementary music program. Using student questionnaires, teacher interviews, and teacher observations I found that the music curriculum in each school was different. There…

Collaboration is critical for accomplishing difficult tasks. As with a kitchen remodel, shared responsibility and collegiality toward a common goal of increased student learning begin with a shared vision. In this article, the author discusses the importance of collaboration and how it guides and reinforces the work one does in schools.

Given what system leaders must accomplish with limited resources, they must make bold decisions about their current investments to achieve high-priority goals related to implementing college- and career-ready standards. This workbook is designed to guide users through a five-step process of understanding what professional learning is available in…

Making Consistent Judgments (MCJ) was a systemic professional development program designed to increase teachers' capacity to make consistent judgments about students' achievement of educational standards in government schools in Western Australia; the MCJ program was in operation from 2004 to 2007 (Department of Education and Training 2007; 2008).…

Approximately 1,200 institutions of higher education in the United States offer a degree in early childhood education, but recent research questions the strength of the relationship between teachers having a degree and benefits to child development and learning. However, there has been little empirical focus on the "quality" of degree programs.…

This paper analyses how countries in UNICEF's East Asia and Pacific Region (EAPR) have engaged in the Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) process. ELDS has been developed by the governments of Cambodia, China, Fiji, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam over the last 3 years with technical and financial support from…

The Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) identifies three ways in which the U.S. can improve its science education. The first is to ensure that all science teachers have enough knowledge of the content they are teaching. Second, the science education community needs to improve the science education standards by…

The Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) is a bold approach to improving student learning by encouraging teachers, parents, and the community to work collaboratively to introduce innovative projects that address local needs. Initiated in 1999 by the Alberta Government and its partners, AISI provides targeted funding to school…