The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the success of a standards-based grading initiative in meeting its goals. Furthermore, findings from this study will be used to inform decisions made in future grade level implementations. Standards-based grading meets all criteria for a problem of practice.…

This case study explored teachers' concerns, use, and actual practices in their adoption of the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative. Participants were 12 secondary teachers in a private school setting. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model tools provided data: Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), Levels of Use interview, and the Innovation…

The Sequoia Healthcare District (SHD), in collaboration with four local school districts--Belmont-Redwood Shores School District (BRSSD), Redwood City School District (RCSD), San Carlos School District (SCSD), and Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD)--launched the Healthy Schools Initiative (HSI) in August 2010. This three-year initiative is…

The study provides an illustration of an elementary school's implementation of a model of Response to Intervention (RTI). The school was selected to be the pilot for RTI implementation within the district. The study employed interviews of all members of the school RTI Leadership Team and select members of the district-level RTI Leadership Team. An…

This article describes the implementation and outcomes, as perceived by the professional learning providers and school principals, of a professional learning (PL) model devised in response to recognition that models of PL that are effective in urban settings are not effective in rural and remote areas. Rather than expecting the teachers to travel…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus package, appropriated $100 billion for education and included $3 billion for school improvement grants (SIGs) to help reform low-performing schools. This amount was in addition to the $546 million provided by the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill for…

Students, who are at risk of academic failure, are reading and achieving below their grade level yet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that all students perform on or above grade level. Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Education Program (NAEP) showed that 37% of fourth graders across the United States are reading below grade…

A study was conducted to examine the organization and operation of selected exemplary vocational counseling programs in diverse Ohio school districts and to identify conditions that appear to contribute to the effectiveness of vocational counseling services. The study also reported on problems and their preferred solutions, the observations of the…

The Luke Principle states that the successful implementation of any organizational change requires a counting of the costs (Ousley, 2003). As developers do not construct a building, nor do governments go to war, without counting costs, administrators in higher education should not reorganize units or merge departments without counting costs. This…

This booklet provides information on developing and implementing a school-business relationship through its description of a successful partnership program in the Springfield, Missouri, Public Schools. The guide is organized in seven sections. The first section provides a rationale for school-business partnerships, and the second section explains…

Ideas for putting the principles of faculty development into program form are discussed. The pitfalls of faculty development efforts are examined: the frustration of false expectations, the problem of fully integrating the program into the college community, the challenge of maintaining program momentum over time, and the inability to secure or…