Coaching is an individualized approach to professional development where educators work towards specific teaching goals with support and feedback from a designated colleague or expert. Coaching appears to be increasingly common in early childhood education (ECE) classrooms, and a number of local, state, and federal policy initiatives over the past…

This resource was prepared for an Early Learning Challenge (ELC) State in response to a request for information about initiatives to improve the quality of child care and early education provided by family, friends, and neighbors in the 20 RTT-ELC States. This information will be helpful to other States as they consider how to continue to increase…

This resource was prepared in response to a request for information about how the six Phase 3 ELC States (Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) are leveraging ELC funds and other State funds to support inclusion. This information will be helpful to other States as they consider how to continue to increase the quality…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the reporting period of 01-01-2016 to 12-31-2016 in Pennsylvania provides a detailed summary of accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies that the state of Pennsylvania will implement to address those challenges. Some accomplishments…

This resource was prepared in response to a request for information about the innovations and lessons learned as the result of the investments States have made in transforming their workforce using their Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grants. These strategies and accomplishments will be helpful to other States as they…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2015 describes Pennsylvania's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Pennsylvania will implement to address those challenges. Pennsylvania's remarkable progress in increasing participation in their tiered quality rating and…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2014 describes Pennsylvania's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Pennsylvania will implement to address those challenges. Following accomplishments, this report presents: (1) Successful State Systems; (2) High-Quality,…

All of the states in this study have recently been involved in school accountability system reform. Since 2011, the states have taken advantage of a federal program to give them flexibility around certain requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB), the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary…

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first and most important step for students to receive their portion of the billions of grant aid dollars disbursed in federal student financial aid; however, every year many low income and community college students fail to complete the FAFSA. Over the past twenty years,…

Touch-screen technologies, on-demand multimedia, and mobile devices are prompting a rethinking of education. In a world of increasing fiscal constraints, state leaders are under pressure to capitalize on these new technologies to improve productivity and help students excel. The task is daunting across the education spectrum, but for those in…

Response to intervention (RTI) arose, in part, from the limited success of the pre-referral process, an approach advocated in the 1980s and 1990s, and accurately measuring the discrepancy between aptitude and achievement in young children. Reflecting these concerns, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in…

This document explores the interaction between the Title I legal framework and selected state and local compensatory education programs (SCE). Specifically, it is concerned with: (a) whether the language of the Title I legal framework setting forth the basic local educational agencies (LEA) program requirements applicable to SCE programs is…

This document is a comprehensive directory of Federal offices, programs, and facilities for K-12 education in mathematics and science for the Mid-Atlantic Region. The purpose of this directory is to assist educators, parents, and students in attaining the National Education Goals, particularly Goal 4: "By the year 2000, U.S. students will be…

This guidebook has been developed to support and coordinate efforts across Pennsylvania to increase the connections between farms and schools. It is written for schools and school districts--and especially for food service directors, teachers, administrators, school nurses, and school health and wellness committees. It is also written for farmers…