The Common Core has become a household term and yet many educators do not understand what it means. This article explains the historical perspectives of the Common Core and gives guidance to teachers in application of Teaching Optimum Topic Exploration (TOTE) necessary for full implementation of the Common Core State Standards. An effective…

The Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project--under the aegis of the New Teacher Center--devised a program to train teacher mentors to help new teachers incorporate the Common Core standards into their teaching. The three-year program yielded five critical lessons: Mentors need ongoing support to develop their readiness and willingness to…

On September 17, 2013 (Constitution Day), the C3 Framework was released under the title "The College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History." The C3 Project Director and lead writer was NCSS member Kathy Swan, who is…

The main goals of this implementation study were to: (1) examine how the grant recipients were implementing the changes set forth in their grant proposals; (2) identify initial barriers to implementation of grant activities; (3) identify catalysts that aided in goal attainment and/or partnership development; and (4) consider the sustainability of…

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…

The recent educational transformation in South Africa has created much uncertainty and disquiet among teachers who were required to introduce the educational changes in their classrooms. As "foot soldiers" in education, teachers are the implementers of educational innovations. The advent of outcomes-based education (OBE), like any other…

This article summarizes recent information on the changing role of professional guidance and the linkages between different services in the Netherlands. The article is organized in three sections. Section 1 highlights some fundamental characteristics of the Dutch educational system. Section 2 examines the structure of the existing guidance…

Resulting in part from a project designed to identify and describe comprehensive programs of excellence in career education, this manual is the first of a series describing current, successful career education practices. Among the considerations discussed in this handbook are: (1) administrative practices, including the role of the superintendent…

The nine studies contained in this volume represent efforts to better understand and develop improved programs for middle school students. Research briefs deal with such topics as the attitudes of students, teachers, and principals; middle school characteristics; the degree of middle school program implementation; a guidance program model;…

This guide is designed to provide information about successful administrative and instructional practices and the models used to integrate academic and vocational education in Florida schools. It is divided into seven chapters, including a summary and conclusions section. The first chapter discusses various Florida initiatives. Outlined next are…