This yearbook contains 24 reports concerning the following seven challenges currently facing vocational education: new needs for job training, reexamining value bases, a growing network of vocational educators, reflecting on past effectiveness, the continuing challenge to meet individual and special needs, strengthening curricula and instruction,…

A project helped handicapped high school students to develop and implement realistic vocational plans and to develop functional skills in various areas associated with independent living. Designed as an evening course open to full time special needs vocational high school students, the program consisted of the following two components: (l) a…

This document profiles the Lansing Area Manufacturing Partnership (LAMP), which is a model school-to-career initiative featuring an innovative integrated, employer-driven curriculum that was designed, developed, and implemented through the joint efforts of the Ingham Intermediate School District in Lansing, Michigan, the United Auto Workers (UAW),…

This article presents the most recent results of a comparative review of early childhood education and care carried out by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Founded in 1961 and based in Paris, OECD is one of the world's most important sources of statistical, economic, and social data. Based on reviews in the…

This report summarizes a study that explored the relationships between efforts to improve schools, the definitions of effectiveness or success which drive those efforts, and how these are affected by the inner life, or cultures, of the schools. Three improving high schools were studied in an attempt to understand the deeply-held beliefs of the…

Eight weeks of instruction that included 120 minutes of guided practice in the overarm throw did not significantly change the ball velocities of kindergarten children when compared to two groups with no formal throwing experience. (Author)

Discusses the School Improvement Project of the New York City public schools. Lists five factors identified by the Project as determinants of student academic success and outlines the job responsibilities of the school Project liaison person. (FL)

T.E.A.C.H., which stands for Teacher Education And Compensation Helps, began in 1990 in North Carolina. What began as a small pilot project, offering scholarships to 21 caregivers, has grown into a national movement. Now in 23 states, T.E.A.C.H. addresses the enduring challenges that plaque the early childhood field--high turnover, low…

The author examined the effects of professional development (PD) on literacy instruction using 75,689 lessons from 1,945 classrooms in 112 schools participating in the Study of Instructional Improvement. Stratifying over 94 pretreatment covariates, including prior instruction, the results revealed the importance of PD as a lever for changing…

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a supported employment programme on measures of executive functions for 44 adults with autism, assessed at the beginning and the end of the programme period. The average length of time of the community employment was 30 months. Methods: Based on their predominant work activity…

In this study, the authors examined the demographic characteristics of students entering the new small high schools in New York City and contrasted them with the characteristics of students entering the large high schools that closed. They also determined whether these high school reforms altered how different types of students are distributed…

Many students experience difficulties learning to program. They find learning to program in the object-oriented paradigm particularly challenging. As a result, computing educators have tried a variety of instructional methods to assist beginning programmers. These include developing approaches geared specifically toward novices and experimenting…

On September 3, 2008, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced Chancellor's Regulation A-832, which established a procedure for preventing and addressing student-to-student bias-based harassment in New York City public schools. Community members and advocates stood with the mayor and chancellor as they announced this…

The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, initially enacted as part of the "No Child Left Behind" amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, underwent a substantial transformation under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under the new program, states identified 2,172 persistently low-achieving schools…

Teaching has long been considered an isolated profession with little opportunity for collaboration. A major task for school leaders is to create improvement from within the school. Teachers are a valuable resource and each one possesses expertise in strategies and methodologies that can be a benefit to others. This action research explored the…