This article discusses a public service review and redesign that resulted in a blended service desk combining reference and circulation functions, staffed by nonlibrarians. The redesign implements a number of organizational structures that encourage service excellence, as found in the business literature and in examples of nonlibrary organizations…

The problem: Motivating and retaining staff had become an ongoing problem at the student newspaper. Student staffers would quit abruptly when overwhelmed or dissatisfied, leaving the newspaper with critical positions vacant. This affected the performance of the newspaper. Method: The newspaper was organized into self directed work teams (SDWTs).…

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of levels of implementation and levels of effectiveness in improving student learning of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in Kanawha County Schools. This study also sought to determine differences in levels of implementation and effectiveness for five selected independent…

In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change.This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants…

As the nonprofit sector continues to grow in size and importance in American society, successful organizations proactively initiate strategic planning so they can be more responsive to changing circumstances, underlying trends, and shifting demands. At times, however, organizations develop elaborate plans that are never implemented. Unfortunately,…

This first of two reports presents early findings from the National Evaluation of the Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers (Comprehensive Centers), a federally funded program that provides technical assistance to states in connection with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The law authorizing the Comprehensive Centers, the…

The purpose of this review of literature is to determine if the literature suggests that site-based management increase student achievement. Original research findings done on 19 Michigan Title I schools using the Bureaucracy Theory, Systems Theory, and Human Resource Development Theory was reviewed. Also, qualitative studies on superintendents…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the current school-based management (SBM) policy reform in Indonesia, with an emphasis on the impacts of shifting authority and responsibility to school level, as well as challenges confronted by the school council members, followed by remedial measures to minimize the problems.…

Todos Juntos New Mexico was a collaborative made possible through a multimillion dollar grant awarded by the Fellows Foundation to empower the community, students, and educators in New Mexico to affect positive change in our public educational system, leading to increased student success, not just for Hispanics, but for all students. Of particular…

In April 2007, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities- (APLU-) Sloan National Commission on Online Learning was created through a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The purpose of the Commission was to engage the presidents, chancellors, and other institutional leaders in a unique, comprehensive discussion of the…

In the 1990s, numerous primary and secondary schools in China began experimental exploration and research on the implementation of school development planning (SDP). However, there has been a lack of self-criticism and reflection on the actual implementation situations and changes in SDP's concepts in the participating schools. This study assessed…

Online learning is a complex undertaking that holds great potential as a teaching and learning mode that public colleges and universities may strategically employ to achieve broad institutional priorities and contribute to the attainment of national goals. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities- (APLU) Sloan National Commission on…

This study examines the impact of a new Decision-Support System (DSS) on decision making in a community college in California. It looks at how attitudes and behaviors about data and their use were impacted by the implementation of a new DSS. The study found that the decentralization of data, through the DSS, produced a shift in terms of an…

This article analyses change of time use and time allocation in three schools participating in a Swedish five-year national experiment in which State regulation of teaching time was weakened. Participating schools could freely decide how to use and distribute teaching time. The experiment was launched at a late stage in a 25-year decentralisation…

In August 1993, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, in Virginia, undertook a study of developmental education (DE) practices in community colleges in Virginia and the other 14 member states of the Southern Regional Education Board to determine factors associated with program effectiveness. Surveys were mailed to the presidents of 313 two-year…