Working as a teacher educator today means working under an ever-present regulatory gaze. Accountability mechanisms, including state program approval processes, have been layered resulting in complexity. External assessments have failed to provide the data needed to support continuous improvement. There have been calls for combining external and…

Performance-based assessment clearly represents an indispensable approach for assessing gifted student learning. Challenging performance tasks allow gifted learners to reveal their considerable intellectual capacity and energy. Through performance tasks, teachers gain insights into a gifted student's true level of capability in a domain of…

"Transforming Science Assessment: Systems for Innovation," is a series of resources designed to provide state education leaders with: (1) Information about how states are currently pursuing statewide assessment systems in science; (2) Analyses of what features influence different approaches, with an eye to supporting state leaders as…

The push for accountability in public schooling has extended to the measurement of teacher performance, accelerated by federal efforts through Race to the Top. Currently, a large number of states and districts across the country are computing measures of teacher performance based on the standardized test scores of their students and using them in…

Across the country, states and districts are designing principal evaluation systems as a means of improving leadership, learning, and school performance. Principal evaluation systems hold potential for supporting leaders' learning and sense of accountability for instructional excellence and student performance. Principal evaluation also is an…

This article describes a 21st century how-to model for successful career and technical education (CTE) programs. The Geometry in Construction program is the brainchild of two educators, a CTE and a math teacher, who wanted to design a rigorous geometry course taught through a project-based curriculum. This article discusses how they did it, and…

"I think what I learned in the IB [International Baccalaureate] program...well, in a way I felt like--have you read Great Expectations? When Pip gets the stipend from the mysterious person and he's walking out and the clouds are lifting up and he can see all the possibilities--that's how I felt with the IB program." -Student reflection…

This report contains the findings of the Oregon Applied Academics research and development project which spanned three academic years from 2010 through 2013. The overall purpose of the project was to develop and implement a technical math course that would meet graduation requirements and improve student performance. The State of Oregon has been…

This guide is designed as a reference for District and School personnel working with English learners (ELs). The content of the guide represents a compilation of information, examples, and resources. This guide is a living document and subject to frequent updates. It is recommended to review the document online rather than printing a hard copy.

This article outlines two compatible models of planning and implementing programs for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Ziggurat Model begins the process with an assessment of student strengths and concerns related specifically to ASD and identifies interventions across five tiers that match these strengths and concerns: (a)…

Connecticut has designed and implemented a model that includes emphases on systematic instruction in functional life skills, transdisciplinary related services, generalization, and specific behavior management skills to provide quality integrated public school programs for severely handicapped students. (CL)

The manual on work experience programs for special education students focuses on issues of program development and enhancement of existing services. Developed by an Arizona state task force, the manual begins with a rationale to students, employers, and the community. A model conceptualizes the career development process as it relates to…

This document contains an executive summary of a study designed to: determine the status of early intervention (birth-to-3) programs for handicapped children in Illinois, to make recommendations for future planning, and develop training modules focused on the findings. It discusses the study's rationale, method, and design; estimates incidence…

Describes Oregon's experience with developing and implementing new requirements for high school graduation, based on minimum competency standards defined by local school districts. (JG)

Program development in the Massachusetts community college is heavily influenced by the processes established to control and monitor program approval. Such procedures, usually supported by forms and time-tables of various sorts, can work to the detriment of responsible local program development, especially systematic need assessment and meaningful…