This popular book addresses literacy leaders' eternal quest to prepare all students for the demands of the 21st century. This updated Sixth Edition will help prospective and current literacy professionals understand how to organize and supervise literacy programs within the context of current state and federal mandates. With a focus on providing…

Research reveals that novice teachers benefit from a well-designed, comprehensive induction program. High-quality induction programs are designed to retain beginning teachers through supports such as mentoring, improving instructional practices, and attending to emotional provisions, to impact both success and satisfaction of novice teachers.…

Research-Practice Partnerships (RPP) can enable and support an evidence-based school culture for decision-making in districts across the nation. Based on our experiences in a large urban district, a key element for a successful RPP is to understand that school districts have their own research needs/agenda typically articulated in strategic plans.…

This study was designed to investigate the applicability of the IES/NSF pipeline-of-evidence protocol in ascertaining why two notable educational initiatives spearheaded and financially supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation achieved or not the goal of improved academic outcomes for K-12 public school students. Our interest was not…

Years of data show many students exit the U.S. educational system unprepared for college and career. In response, the White House launched the "My Brother's Keeper" (MBK) initiative, calling for the closing of opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color. SWIFT Center assembled a national task force to determine how SWIFT can…

The Detroit Healthy Youth Initiative is a 10-year partnership between the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and Wayne State University (WSU) with the goal of improving the quality of school health and physical education programs throughout the city schools. Drawing on the experiences of WSU and DPS faculty, administrators, teachers, and project staff,…

Effective strategic planning has clearly become a skill that is essential to the survival of managers in public and private sector agencies alike. While sometimes thought of as being an overly quantitative and excessively time-consuming activity, strategic planning does not need to be characterized in these terms. In its simplest and most…

This report reflects the proceedings of a series of seminars conducted for system-wide and school directors of guidance and pupil personnel services during the 1970-71 academic year. It is issued to serve as a guide for school administrators and educational specialists in developing effective courses of action for community leadership. The need…

Recent research suggests that principals can improve the content and delivery of staff development programs by selecting practical topics, involving teachers in topic selection and presentation, keeping teachers' experience levels in mind, emphasizing ongoing staff development processes, avoiding lecture-based programs, and encouraging personal…

Many guidelines for school improvement have emerged from recent research and experience. The connected issues of school improvement and staff development are explored. Guidance for staff development as a part of school improvement is delineated. (DF)

Decline in student enrollments in a given subject area may be due to a variety of factors. It may, for example, result from poor student understanding of the potential course and program offering; it may result from inadequate program promotion; it may stem from inadequate understanding of business education courses and sequences by guidance…

This document is designed to help individual schools: 1) examine the current mathematics program; 2) select and rank program priorities; 3) compare the current program with the "Guidelines for Programs of Excellence in the Basic Skills" and with successful mathematics programs and practices; 4) state goals and objectives which apply to the…

This chapter is limited to a discussion of formative evaluation procedures for the purpose of improving instructional programs. It provides some discussion about what formative evaluation is, what it is for, and some guidelines regarding how to go about the evaluation of instruction. The use of the term "instruction" is construed very broadly to…

The author suggests that the failure of traditional prevention programs may be one of the reasons for the rising consumption rate of alcohol in Canada. He makes several suggestions for improving alcohol education programs. (SJL)