With the majority of undergraduate teaching in Australian higher education being undertaken by casual academics, ensuring adequate support for these staff to access support and professional development relating to teaching and learning is imperative. In this article, we profile the development and implementation of a university-wide strategic…

Few concepts are more noted in the leadership effects research than vision. It is a cardinal element in the school improvement equation as well. Yet, it remains one of the least well-specified components of that algorithm. Based on a comprehensive review of the research on effective leadership and school improvement from 1995 to 2012, we bring…

Background: The Whole Child approach and the coordinated school health (CSH) approach both address the physical and emotional needs of students. However, a unified approach acceptable to both the health and education communities is needed to assure that students are healthy and ready to learn. Methods: During spring 2013, the ASCD (formerly known…

This article reports on a first cycle of a larger action research study conducted to determine how Circuit Teams could support School Management Teams of underperforming high schools towards whole-school development. Although it is a mandated requirement by the Department of Education, none of the four schools involved in the study had developed a…

To assist system administrators as they pursue their own teacher leadership initiatives, this profile from Leading Educators and the Aspen Institute details the steps Denver Public Schools (DPS) took to design and implement its Differentiated Roles pilot. Specifically, it examines the initiative's opportunities and challenges within the context of…

Launched in 2008, the Strategic Data Project, housed at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, seeks to bridge the divide between educational research and practice in order to transform the use of data in education to improve student achievement. Through the project, the authors build robust research partnerships with…

A professional learning plan is the navigation system for the comprehensive professional learning system. Professional learning plans establish short- and long-term guidance for professional learning and its implementation. This workbook offers information and tools to walk educators through seven planning steps--from data analysis, to setting…

Geary Rummler developed a powerful methodology to design organizations that sustainably deliver desired performance. And he was always interested in further developing his ideas. This article uses a specific project to illustrate how Rummler's work can be used to create a complete organization and explores where future methodological developments…

Planners strive to develop the best programs and strategies to enhance student learning and advance their institutional mission while meeting their desired outcomes. This work, while rewarding, can be time intensive and demanding and developing new initiatives is not without risks. Some common reasons these efforts fail include: lack of buy-in…

The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) was charged by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) from 2001-2006 to develop, implement, and evaluate an approach to technical assistance that would result in sustainable systems change in state Early Intervention and Preschool Special…

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Community School District has long been recognized as a strong school system, educating many of its students to the highest levels of learning. However, like many others across the state and nation, the district also enrolls students whose potential is not being realized. For Cedar Rapids district to become a great school…

Results-based management (RBM) is an approach to programme planning and management that integrates strategy, people, resources, processes and measurements to improve decision-making, transparency and accountability. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) began the adoption of a RBM model with its 2003-2006 Three-Year Plan. This led to a significantly…

Background: There has been much educational verbosity over the past decade related to building capacity for effective schools. However, there seems to be a scarcity of clarification about what is meant by school capacity building or how to accomplish and sustain this process. This article describes the preexisting conditions and ongoing processes…

In 1996, the Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO) took the lead in developing a statewide plan to build Ohio's capacity--or Ohio's ability to provide leadership and resources--for environmental education. The goal for the project was to collaboratively develop and implement a statewide strategy for building Ohio's ability to promote…

This report provides the reader with a summary of the rationale, design strategies, and major accomplishments of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI). Drawing upon both the data collected directly in Appalachia by Inverness Research Associates, as well as knowledge gained by working with many other rural initiatives, this summary…