Teacher preparation plays a critical role in ensuring that teachers are prepared to lead and impact student learning from the first day they are responsible for student learning. The best way to ensure that every teacher is "profession-ready" from their first day as a teacher-of-record is for preparation programs to incorporate teacher…

As Internet technology encroached on the public school classroom about a decade ago, Kim Ross, superintendent of the Houston School District in Houston, Minnesota, saw an opportunity. At first, he and his administrative team simply wanted to offer students in the district of 1,300 access to more classes via the web than what a district that size…

Peter Senge's (1990) theory of organizational change includes teams that perceive the whole of the organization; grow professionally; navigate short- and long-term organizational experiences through exposed mental models; share a vision; and hear each voice in an ongoing communal learning process. The Margaret Sue Copenhaver Institute for Teaching…

Described are six elementary schools in Virginia that were judged as meeting nine criteria for programs facilitating participatory decision-making by teachers. The term "participatory decision-making" refers to the sharing of decisions on school policies and practices between teachers and school administrators. Information on the…

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the National Institute of Mental Health jointly sponsored a project for the development of statewide organizations for parents of children with emotional disorders. The Statewide Parent Organization Demonstration Project (SPODP) has two major goals: to stimulate and support the…

This study examined the characteristics of school systems and programs that have been successfully involved in change over the past 10 years and that are continuing to update services through external sources. Four models of innovation are outlined: the traditional research-development and utilization (RDU) model, the Linkage Model (Havelock…

Virginia has developed a state training program for student financial aid administrators. It is coordinated with two previously separate programs, is cost efficient, and has resolved the issues of who should train, what materials should be included, when training should be conducted, and where training should occur. (JMD)

This group of reports constitutes the first series of observations designed to document the experiences of six state agencies (Delaware, Oregon, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi) which are developing model program evaluation/management support units that will affect the development and implementation of policy in federal/state…

The authors discuss the joining of 12 Virginia community colleges from the Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia with Radford University to form the Regional Technology Education Consortium (RTEC), a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education program and designed to develop articulation…

This report describes a concept for providing innovative opportunities for Virginia students identified as gifted in the technical arts or other areas. The approach unites the areas of vocational education, programs for the gifted, and career education and guidance in a partnership to: encourage gifted students to pursue offerings in vocational…

The purpose of this 2-year project was to develop, and begin implementation of, a comprehensive health occupations teacher education program including preservice, inservice, new teacher orientation, and continuing education components for the State of Virginia. During the second year of the project, the goals were (1) to continue the work of the…

The paper describes a Virginia career education project tested in 1974-5 at 10 field sites with sixth through ninth grade students. The simulation-based curriculum, Careers and You, takes a clusters approach to career orientation. Designed for a total school year, the curriculum repeats its sequence of phases so that each is emphasized twice. The…

The third and final phase of a three-year project to develop state-studies materials for Virginia is described in this report. The third phase involved continued pilot testing of fourth-grade materials, development of drafts of seventh-grade materials, and exploration of plans for dissemination. The report comprises six chapters. Chapter 1 reviews…

The project described in this document was conducted in Virginia during the 1986-87 academic year to develop a model inservice program that would assist school personnel in providing vocational guidance for secondary school students with limited English proficiency. The project directors collected materials, searched the relevant professional…

This report describes the technical assistance provided to the states of New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia during a project on vocational education models for linking agencies serving the handicapped. Described first are the nature and scope of the project. Covered in a summary of technical assistance provided to New Jersey are the New Jersey…