For a school improvement initiative to succeed, education leaders must do more than adopt a new program and train staff. This issue of "SEDL Insights" explores steps that leaders can take to ensure the successful implementation of a new program or practice.

In the spring of 1988, the Dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Central Missouri State University (CMSU) appointed a committee to focus on the assessment of teacher education. Since then the Teacher Education Assessment Committee (TEAC) has funtioned as a dynamic operation collaborating with all colleges on the CMSU campus. This…

This booklet presents a model for changing an elementary and secondary school curriculum. In the first section, forms and resources are provided for analyzing change at the local level. The second section offers the following step-by-step guidelines for curriculum development: (1) identify components of the existing curriculum; (2) focus on skills…

Discusses planning for the use of technology in education; explains a planning process model that includes needs assessment, creating and selecting goals, and implementing and evaluating the plan; and describes an application of this model in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District (Pennsylvania). (LRW)

Reports on a forum sponsored by the California State Department of Education in cooperation with the California School Boards Association and the Far West Laboratory for Education Research and Development, which was held to identify the most critical needs for educational technology in the state and to discuss possible strategies for meeting these…

The inservice training of secondary teachers in the consumer economics areas of personal and family financial planning has been identified as a prime need. Responsibility for providing inservice programs in both content and methods of teaching consumer education rests, in part, on colleges of education. This manual was developed to be a guide for…

This report presents nine steps, followed by work plans, for administrators when implementing a dropout prevention initiative. These nine steps are: (1) conduct a needs assessment to establish a database that identifies students who leave school early; (2) draft descriptors that identify elementary students who are at risk of dropping out later;…

This dissertation details a plan for integrating multimedia technology into the learning environment at Northern Maine Technical College (NMTC), considering available hardware and software, the implications for campus-based and distance education, and needs for instructional, organizational, and human resource development. A literature review…

Case studies that describe the attempts of three colleges to improve institutional academic and program planning are presented. The institutions--Willamette University, Lorain County (Ohio) Community College (LCCC), and Ohio University--attempted to adapt and implement the planning process described in "A Handbook for Institutional Academic…

The following considerations are of major importance to the persons who act as technical assisters for the Long Range Plan for School Improvement (LRPSI) in Pennsylvania: (1) long-range planning should be viewed as a deliberative and participative process; its steps should not be considered in isolation from each other; (2) comprehensive needs…

This report, part of a long-range plan by San Diego Unified School District, California, investigates the extent to which the multitrack year-round program should be expanded to meet facility and curriculum needs. The report is divided into seven sections. Section 1, an issues statement, is followed by a background section and a section describing…

This plan provides a framework for incorporating technology into the educational lives of Mississippians. The recommendations set forth are based on the comprehensive needs analysis and statewide study of existing educational technology initiatives conducted by the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology in the spring and summer of 1995.…

Section 2 of the 1980 version of Pennsylvania's Long Range Plan for School Improvement (LRPSI) might be characterized as a "catch-all." The technical assistant faces the task of making connections both within this section, entitled "Management Planning," and among the remaining four sections of LRPSI. The following directives…