By 2012, all of the states in this study had started implementing new or revised teacher and leader evaluation systems. There are many and varying updates to these systems, and some of them have been made to meet conditions for a state's federal "Race to the Top" (RTT) grant. Other updates have been made to meet conditions for a state's…

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for evaluating a professional development school program to enact an evidence-based model for a continuous cycle of program improvement. Guided by the logic model for program evaluation, we developed three survey instruments based on the professional development school standards of the National…

In this article, the author describes their digital conversion initiative at Mooresville Graded School District. The project has placed a MacBook Air laptop in the hands of every 3rd through 12th grader and their teachers in the district over the past four years, with over 5,000 computers distributed. But they believe their academic successes have…

Services to imprisoned women under the age of 21 and the effects of incarceration on inmate mothers and their children are the two major subjects discussed in this report of a study conducted at the two state prison facilities for women in North Carolina. Information on these topics was obtained through site visits, interviews with staff and…

Teacher working conditions surveys provide biennial, comprehensive data regarding school leadership. This case describes how a Title I middle school principal proactively addresses end-of-year data to address identified needs and growth areas in a collaborative manner in her middle school. The principal works in a concerted manner with an…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement their states' new college- and career-readiness standards and aligned assessments, through professional learning. SREB researchers examined each state's major professional development efforts around its new standards in order to…

Mainstreaming the handicapped child requires much more than mere placement in a regular classroom. Careful thought and preparation must be devoted to the affective, as well as cognitive, aspects of classroom experience. This paper describes the mainstreaming program at the North Rowan Primary School in Rowan County, North Carolina. Through team…

APPROXIMATELY 100 EDUCATORS FROM FIVE STATES AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS PARTICIPATED IN AN INSTITUTE TO HELP INSTRUCTIONAL AND GUIDANCE PERSONNEL IMPROVE THE VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ARE PREPARING TO ENTER THE WORLD OF WORK. THE AGENDA CONSISTED OF SPEECHES ON VOCATIONS, GROUP SESSIONS TO DISCUSS VOCATIONAL PROGRAM…

This report is based on an almost 5-year continual study of selected collaboratives engaged in education reform and improvement with a focus on science, math, and technology in schools serving K-12 students in rural America. This version of the final report of the study is primarily intended for use by educators, decision makers, and others who…

Learning communities continue to be at the heart of teaching and learning today. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of the impact of the Freshman Academy/Learning Community program on student progress at a historically Black university. The authors also looked at the extent to which students engaged in their learning as a result of…

Quality Rating Systems (QRS) are currently operating, under development, or being piloted in over 25 states or local areas. As the QRS model becomes integrated into the landscape of child care and education service delivery, policy, and the decisions parents make about child care across the United States, there is an increasing need for…

The purpose of this article is to describe the Quality Educators Academy (QEA), a year-long training for K-8 classroom teachers that was funded by a NC ESEA Title II-A Improving Teacher Quality (NC QUEST) Grant. Key features of the project as well as the design and content of the training contributed to success in recruiting, retaining, and…

Less than 25 percent of college students who take any developmental education courses earn a credential within eight years. Over the past three years, the six states in the Developmental Education Initiative have developed and enacted unprecedented changes in policy and practice in an effort to reverse these dismal outcomes. "Ahead of the…

Launched in 2008, the Strategic Data Project, housed at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, seeks to bridge the divide between educational research and practice in order to transform the use of data in education to improve student achievement. Through the project, the authors build robust research partnerships with…

This article describes how Fayetteville State University's Reading Across the Curriculum (RAC) model developed for use with underprepared students can effectively improve the literacy and academic language skills of those students. The primary goals and objectives of the RAC program are to train faculty members from various disciplines to create…