The Pacific Communities with High-performance in Literacy Development (Pacific CHILD) Professional Development Model research project was initiated in response to an overwhelming need in PREL's Pacific service region for improvement of teachers' knowledge and instructional practices in early reading. This report examines the question of the…

The main goal of the study was to document and describe the beginnings of the implementation of the Strategic Instructional Model at five (5) middle schools in the EPISD. The study also examined Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) data from those students that participated in the program. Methodology: Implementation information was…

The purpose of this study was to determine how principals spend their time and to test a new structure using business management trained staff to increase principal time spent on academic achievement and gap closure. Twenty-one elementary school principals were randomly selected for a week-long time-task analysis. Data collectors shadowed the…

This paper is a summary of the evaluation of the second complete year of the implementation of the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI), which is designed to achieve 100% literacy by targeting reading performance of beginning reading and first-grade students, to expand the reading power for second- through twelfth-grade students and to intervene for…

In July of 2005, the American Association of Physics Teachers/Physics Teacher Resource Agents (AAPT/PTRA) Rural Project gathered 73 PTRAs at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City for the annual AAPT/PTRA Leadership Institute. The major goal for the summer institute is to provide the PTRAs with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively lead…

The Medical Interpreter Training Project, created as a collaborative effort of Northern Essex Community College (Massachusetts), private businesses, and medical care providers in Massachusetts, developed a 28-credit, competency-based certificate program to prepare bilingual adults to work as medical interpreters in a range of health care settings.…

The State University of New York (SUNY) Bridge Program is a federally funded work force preparation program that was initiated in October 1992 to help mothers receiving welfare achieve self-sufficiency by helping them acquire job skills. The program is housed at the Urban League of Northeastern New York and SUNY's 10 educational opportunity…

This special topic issues focuses on workplace literacy. "Literacy Practices in Today's Workplace" (Larry Mikulecky) provides a picture of demands and practices in workplace literacy. "Workplace Literacy Skills: Making Reading Work for Work" (Esther Minskoff) advocates use of contextual instruction and offers guidelines for providing workplace…

This article examines a collaborative practice-based research project. It recounts the experiences of a kindergarten teacher as she implemented a program to increase family involvement in education. The text is based on classroom documents, parent meetings, and parent interviews. The setting for the narrative is a Basic School, a type of school…

This article examines education reform in America, focusing on charter schools. It outlines the current issues in the educational system and details some of the problems that have been identified in recent years, such as lagging test scores. Some of the other difficulties that schools face include discipline problems, wasteful federal…

A study examined the effect of adventure programs on participants' self-efficacy immediately following an adventure program experience and whether increased self-efficacy transferred to the participants' daily lives after the adventure experience. Sixty-eight participants aged 18-29 in a series of 21-day Outward Bound courses were given a pretest…

The Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico-Rural Systemic Initiative (UCAN-RSI) supports systemic reform of mathematics, technology, and science education for rural students in its states, focusing on schools with high enrollments of American Indian and Hispanic students. This performance effectiveness review covers UCAN's progress during its second…

This report describes the reactions of beginning teachers, mentors, principals, and district coordinators in 12 New Brunswick, Canada, school districts to a teacher induction program that paired beginning teachers with experienced mentor teachers over one school year. Questionnaires were sent to each of the four groups. All four groups strongly…

This report by the American Association of Community Colleges summarizes the results of a nationwide year-long study on foreign language education. Programs, called Improving Foreign Language Education projects at Community Colleges, were implemented at a total of 36 American colleges to enact proposed changes in curriculum and foreign language…

This action research project evaluated an intervention to improve the organizational skills of middle school students with grade point averages below 2.0. Students' lack of organizational skills was documented by means of parent and student surveys, grade point averages, and progress and deficiency reports exhibiting frequently missing homework…