A group of low-performing schools received additional state funds to improve achievement as part of California's Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP). A mixed-method evaluation was conducted to determine whether II/USP schools outperformed similar non-II/USP schools, how teachers and administrators understood resources…

Two schools in Maryland received ARRA SIG (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act School Improvement Grants) funds to enable them to implement their turnaround efforts. This paper describes the outcomes of these two ARRA SIG recipient schools: (1) G. James Gholson Middle School; and (2) Commodore John Rodgers Elementary School. The experiences of…

Project PACT was designed to complement a bilingual program at Potter-Thomas school by involving Hispanic parents in the education of their children. The emphasis was on improving the academic performance of Hispanic pupils by teaching their parents and other adults how to reinforce classroom instruction. At the end of the first year, there was…

The Program reported here was designed to help improve the quality of education in the nations elementary and secondary schools. It pursued this goal in two ways: first, by helping selected, potentially influential experienced teache to pursue full-time graduate education in specially planned courses of studies; second, by fostering and…

This follow up survey of the 1965 NDEA history institute program (which had been thoroughly studied) examines constancy of participants' opinions about the institute and investigates some specific phases of institute experience. Objectives include answering four questions on how attendance at the institute affected each participant's: 1)…

There is a general agreement that academic standards in Papua New Guinea high schools are below those in many other countries. This paper will examine this problem generally and also in relation to the teaching of mathematics and science. At Goroka Teachers' College, which is the only teacher training college for secondary school teachers in Papua…

Beginning in September, 2001 when the Portland Public Schools received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Urban Systemic Program (USP) initiative, the district focused, accelerated and strengthened its efforts to improve mathematics and science education K-12. Since its inception the authors at Inverness Research…

The study reviews what is known from research about school-family-community involvement programs. Collectively, recent studies and earlier research indicate a strong relationship between family involvement and improved academic performance. Family involvement is also associated with other key outcomes such as attendance and behavior, which are…

In this article, the author discusses two major conclusions about initial preparation programs in the United States. On the upside, a good deal of energy and hard work is being poured into attempts to revitalize preparation programs. On the downside, people are not seeing much in the way of real improvement; that is, most of the change is on the…

We review a plan that attracted the attention of public sector planners everywhere, Oregon's 1989 "Oregon Shines: An Economic Strategy for the Pacific Century". In particular, we focus on Oregon's aspirations for world-class workforce quality; a status that the state's planners argued would contribute to a host of other outcomes that…

A collaborative partnership provides school administrators and university researchers an opportunity to evaluate a school-based initiative. Richards Middle School (RMS) in Columbus, Georgia identified school improvement goals and involved university researchers in a collaborative evaluation with implications for strengthening leadership, training,…

Students with learning disabilities and other types of disabilities who attend post-secondary education settings may often require reasonable accommodations to succeed. While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is designed to protect students with disabilities from discrimination, many students are unaware of their rights and how to request…

The insights of various theoretical perspectives on school improvement can be integrated in a common framework called "the institutional perspective" when the sensitivity of each theoretical perspective to the nature of decision making for school improvement is taken into account. The institutional perspective thus generated considers the…

This report presents an evaluation for the school year 1982-1983, of the Pilot Projects component of the Cleveland Public Schools, for grades K-10. The purpose of the component is to develop and pilot innovative approaches for meeting selected needs of disadvantaged students at the local level. Pilot Projects are small grants that are designed,…

The inability of the schools to meet the educational needs of economically disadvantaged minority children has prompted efforts to identify alternatives to the traditional school curriculum. One such alternative emphasizes the use of the arts in developing basic academic skills. Research indicates that the arts can be used to develop perceptual…