This paper explores enabling conditions for scaling high-quality project-based learning (PBL) to understand factors that influence how PBL spreads, whether and how it can be sustained and the extent to which it informs meaningful change in schools. We report on a year-long collaboration across three research projects. Each project team analyzed…

In the 2017/2018 academic year, the government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education, began an educational reform policy codenamed the "Free Senior High School" (FSHS) policy to fully absorb the cost, increase enrolment, and improve the quality of education for all public senior high schools in Ghana. To accommodate more students…

The increased demand for a skilled workforce has placed new challenges on rural school districts. Students are provided the opportunity to obtain the skills required to fill the workforce needs through exemplary career and technical education programs. The purpose of this study was to identify key characteristics of exemplary career and technical…

The aim of this paper is to explore the influence of strategic planning in improving the quality of education. The quality of education is directly linked to the effort expended in making arrangements or preparations of educational objectives and determining the requisite resources to facilitate the training, instruction or study that leads to the…

Background: Data-based decision making can lead to increased student achievement; however, schools struggle with the implementation of data-based decision making. Professional development in the use of data is therefore urgently needed. However, professional development is often ineffective in terms of improving the knowledge, skills, and attitude…

This policy profile on education in the Netherlands is part of the new Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base available…

In 1988, Illinois entered into a 5-year commitment, called the Illinois Alliance of Essential Schools (IAES), to implement the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) philosophy in several secondary schools. This paper presents findings of a study that examined how IAES schools defined the program's nine Common Principles and the implementation…

A year-long study evaluated the scope and quality of pre-16 work experience in England and Wales. Its main aims were to map out work experience provision, assess program quality, and examine the impact of new funding. The research included a survey of area work experience coordinators, six detailed case studies, interviews with teachers from 30…

A new perspective on the practical problems of changing secondary schools to enhance learning is called "the Copernican Plan" because its implementation would change the schools as completely as Copernicus's ideas changed the perception of our solar system. The plan proposes major restructuring of virtually all the basic systems within a…

The problems of Individual Education Plan (IEP) utilization with handicapped students are analyzed and compared to the developing use of Individual Transition Plans (ITP). Considered are issues of accountability, relevance, quality, feasibility, and preparedness. (DB)

In 1983 California enacted a comprehensive bill containing dozens of education reform provisions (Senate Bill 813). A sample of 17 secondary schools was selected in order to understand if a number of state-level education reform features could be implemented locally. The major study findings listed below are described in greater detail in the…

Four of the policy statements for vocational education developed by the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education reflect concerns shared in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education. First, vocational education is accountable to the publics, namely students, employers, and state, local, and…

The evaluation process provides valuable information so that practitioners may share and benchmark their efforts to improve and enhance the quality of the educational reform initiative called tech prep. Evaluation should be part of every phase of a tech prep initiative, from needs assessment to completion. A tech prep program is typically at one…

Examines school reform efforts in the secondary education system of Tel Aviv-Jaffa (Israel). The article describes the principles of the reform and its implementation and analyzes the major trends of change and their educational and social significance after two years of operation. The social processes that were background to the program's design…

This volume contains over 60 ideas for use in implementing supervised occupational experience (SOE) programs. The ideas, which were submitted during a National SOE idea contest conducted in 1983, deal with the following aspects of SOE programs: program evaluation, program promotion, use of teacher and student aids, stimulation of individual…