REL Northeast and Islands, in collaboration with the Northeast Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance and the New Hampshire Department of Education, conducted a study of the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems in New Hampshire's School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools. While the basic system features are similar across district…

"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a firstyear seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative was established in 2005 with planning grants that allowed a limited number of schools to explore a redesign of their respective schedules and add time to their day or year. Participating schools are required to expand learning time by at least 300 hours per academic year to improve student…

In 2006, Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) launched a major initiative, the Top 25 Project, to embed inquiry-guided learning (IGL) into its largest-enrollment courses across the university. These are generally entry-level classes and thus affect many students: 75 percent of incoming students on its main campus in 2010 were in at least one Top 25…

In 2009, the United States Department of Education conducted a competition for a second round of Striving Readers grants. Its dual purpose was to: (1) Raise middle and high school students' literacy levels in Title I-eligible schools with significant numbers of students reading below grade level; and (2) Build a strong, scientific research base…

The Kent School District in Kent, Washington, adopted the use of video study groups (VSGs) during the 2008-09 school year to help teachers apply research-based strategies to support struggling math students. This form of embedded professional development has been around since the 1960s but is getting renewed attention because video equipment is…

The San Diego Unified School District Striving Readers Project aims to work within the research base on adolescent literacy to conceptualize, describe and apply the elements of effective teaching and professional development with the goal of increasing the literacy achievement of struggling adolescent readers. Since the inception of the Striving…

This article presents findings from an evaluation of an instructional-technology professional development (PD) program that uses many practices advocated by PD experts. In this multiphase evaluation, evaluators examined the program, determined whether variations in program implementation had an impact on teacher outcomes, and then looked at…

Hillsborough County Public Schools has launched a teacher evaluation system that has attracted attention from educators and policy makers across the country. Centralized, collaborative, communications-driven and adaptable are key characteristics of Hillsborough's approach. The system consists of two main components: observation of instruction and…

If education in Indiana is to dramatically improve, the systems and policies that collectively shape the learning experiences for students must be re-imagined. In the spring of 2011, the Indiana legislature passed IC 20-28-11.5, a new law relating to the evaluation of all certified teaching staff and administrators. Prior to this legislation,…

The Illinois Striving Readers (ISR) Project had two purposes: (1) implement a supplemental reading intervention for students in ninth grade who were reading below grade level; and (2) study the impact of the intervention on students' performance on standardized assessments using a randomized control trial design. The Illinois Striving Readers…

In 2008, Thailand passed legislation on the educational provisions for students with disabilities to mandate the implementation of inclusive education. This article provides a historical overview of special education in Thailand and the emergence of inclusive education as it moves from policy to practice. To further identify the challenges faced…

"Success for All" (SFA) is one of the best known and thoroughly evaluated school reform models. Further evaluation of the initiative is especially important for two reasons. First, the program model has continued to evolve over time, with a greater emphasis placed on the use of engaging technology in the classroom and on the deployment…

Portland Public Schools (PPS), the largest school district in Oregon, serves more than 46,000 students in regular and special programs. More than 2,900 classroom teachers address the needs of a diverse student population (44% minority, 46% low income, 14% special education, 9% English language learners). A district needs assessment in fall 2005…

Faced with the need of transforming the university structure, processes, and programs according to the Bologna reform, and in order to become more flexible and more responsive to the environment, the University of Rijeka management decided to enable e-learning implementation as an institutional, strategically planned operation. The manuscript…