This booklet is part of a series of reports on "hot topics" in education. It discusses after-school programs, sometimes referred to as "extended-day" programs, which are often operated in school buildings but may be implemented in other community locations. The booklet offers a brief overview of the research on after-school…

Service learning has been defined as the integration of service with academic growth. It is a method through which young people learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences. Service learning programs are individualized and unique, and to duplicate one program or to expect the same effects from one…

This booklet is part of a series of reports on "hot topics" in education. When educators build on informal tutoring processes and create organized processes of tutoring, it can become a powerful tool for learning, whether it is peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, or parent/volunteer tutoring. Tutoring benefits students, who receive…

This booklet is the fourth in a series of "hot topic" reports, that address current educational concerns. The booklet examines questions relating to grade configurations, its purpose being to increase awareness and understanding of the issues surrounding grade span. It explores the ways that schools have addressed concerns associated…

This booklet, part of a series of reports on "hot topics" in education review the research and conventional wisdom concerning retention and promotion and includes an exploration of alternative practices that can be used to prevent failure and improve a student's chances for successful remediation. The booklet also describes how two…

This booklet is part of a series of reports on "hot topics" in education. It examines the current status of parent involvement in schools, taking into account specific definitions, recent research, and different types of parent involvement. The booklet explores ideas for implementing parent-involvement programs, outlines the potential pitfalls of…

This booklet is part of a series of reports on "hot topics" in education. It discusses mentoring, a strategy that has become popular over the past decade. Pairing students with adult volunteers or older students who provide friendship, guidance, and support has been shown to be helpful to students and to provide benefits to mentors.…

This booklet, part of a series on "hot topics" in education, advances the premises that student differences exist and that these differences can influence the way students learn. It is also assumed that there are measures schools and teachers can take that will improve the likelihood that students succeed in school. Among the issues that must be…

This booklet is part of a series of reports on "hot topics" in education. It explores alternative school schedules as ways to make education be the best it can for all students. Block scheduling, 4-day school weeks, and year-round education are alternative scheduling methods that generate interest in schools in the northwestern United…

As part of a series of stories about real-world schools that have achieved substantial success in school improvement over multiple-year periods, this report provides an in-depth look at one school's efforts to improve student learning. The school profiled is Highland Elementary School, located in Salem, Oregon, serving a student population of…