Leading Charlotte foundations formed a funding collaborative to support a five-year district turnaround initiative to dramatically improve educational outcomes for students in the West Charlotte High School corridor, one of the city's lowest-performing feeder zones. The "Project L.I.F.T." initiative involves four areas of education…

Despite some cuts to the nation's oldest Federal College Access Programs, known as the TRIO programs (e.g., Upward Bound), new education policies have emphasized college and career readiness. In 2010, Congress approved the College Access Challenge Grant Program, which aims to increase the number of low-income students who are ready for college.…

The steps involved in conducting a valid needs assessment are described and some problems to be avoided are discussed. Needs assessment begins with a set of educational goals. It is important that community opinion be obtained regarding the goals to ensure that they represent the interests of all involved in the educational process. Once the goals…

A description of the two major outcomes of Trenton's Title III project, "Building a Comprehensive Planning Capability Using EPPBS", is given. The author first briefly reviews the planning system which resulted from the project, entitled the System for Trenton's Educational Planning (STEP). Following this, a detailed overview of the other…

The System for Trenton's Educational Planning (STEP), a set of procedures for strategic planning, is described. The background to the project and the desired goals which led to STEP are reviewed, and the major components of the annual planning cycle, including assessment, base case planning, policy formulation, project design, simulation of…

The School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System (SPECS) is an overall design for districtwide program assessment and development. It is both a way of interrelating planning and evaluation of individual programs and a way of comparing the outcomes of all district programs with the district's community-defined educational goals. Component…

The School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System (SPECS) is an overall design for districtwide program assessment and development. It is both a way of interrelating planning and evaluation of individual programs and a way of comparing the outcomes of all district programs with the district's community-defined educational goals. This…

To examine how the school districts profiled in "Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts That Value Arts Education" are responding to the demands of how to provide high quality public education to all students throughout the country and whether their communities continue to support arts education, the Arts Education Partnership…

This report responds to questions posed by school and community leaders throughout the United States about public school districts that have made competence in the arts, as well as literacy, one of the fundamental goals of education for students. Ninety-one school districts are featured in this report, but hundreds more were identified by state…

This paper discusses the desirability of professionalizing North Carolina school boards and presents a proposed program for moving from the present system of lay school boards to a Team Management System that involves students, citizens, and educators, in addition to the school board, in school district decision-making. The paper consists of three…

Describes a cooperative program between small school districts in Grundy County to provide ideas, techniques, and resources to implement career education. Program activities described include teacher in-service sessions, the cooperative resource library, a newsletter, a resource guide, special projects, and a one-and five-year vocational plan. (TA)

The major factors affecting successful recruitment and utilization of school volunteers are reviewed in this booklet. The possibilities opened by such programs and the control that can be exercised over them are stressed in the opening pages of the document to encourage program implementation and assuage unnecessary fears. A 17-step process for…

Discusses the importance of values education programs in the public schools, with some emphasis on the program in the Baltimore County Public Schools. The article cites authorities from other school districts, higher education, and educational associations, noting the important role of staff development and community involvement. (SM)

This report presents a summary of the activities and accomplishments in the first year of a Teacher Corps project carried out by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and the Pine Bluff school district. Accomplishments in the project are discussed in the areas of: (1) policy board formation and role;…

This primer introduces the basics of Program Management and Budgeting (PMB) in an effort to demonstrate how PMB can benefit school systems. Short quotes from previous publications on the topic are paired with cartoons designed to clarify the purposes and workings of the program. The publication begins by defining PMB as an alternative financial…