Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

Over both recent years and many decades, California districts have produced a range of substantively different approaches to teacher evaluation, demonstrating both the potential for district-level action generally and specific design options. In this report, the authors focus on teacher evaluation programs and further focus on the features of…

This longitudinal study, framed by activity theory, examines what seven novice teachers' talk and actions reveal about their literacy teaching practices then delves into mediating influences of the teaching context. Utilizing collective, multi-case methods, data sources included interviews, observations, and artifacts. Findings indicate novices…

Community colleges enroll almost half of the undergraduates in the United States and provide students the option to earn a degree at a lower cost and offer more flexible class schedules than four-year colleges. However, among first-time, full-time degree-seeking students entering public two-year schools, only about 20 percent graduate with a…

The Wallace Foundation is funding a multiyear demonstration project to determine whether voluntary, district summer learning programs can stem summer learning loss for low-income students. Six districts--Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Duval County (Florida), Pittsburgh, and Rochester, New York--were selected for the demonstration project and…

Researchers have raised a number of questions about whether student achievement data can be used fairly or accurately for purposes of teacher evaluation. Others have noted that achievement data alone cannot provide teachers with the information they need to improve their practice. Recognizing these limitations, the federal government and many…

This research documents and analyzes the nature and content of the knowledge that enables professors to foster learning for Black students. Specifically, it suggests that knowledge of the discourses of a students' community of origin, discourses often based on collective experience, are a valuable resource to professors in their efforts to promote…

The study was undertaken with the objective of assessing groups influence on management style as related to University governance with University of Agriculture, Makurdi as a case study from academic staff perspective. The management style of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the period September 3, 1996 to…

This study investigated sources of resistance to development of integrated preschool programs, expressed in interviews with 30 parents, teachers, and administrators and in observations of planning meetings. Findings suggest that perceived loss of political control over aspects of programs that have been informally negotiated among parents,…

Effective schools research has delivered some relatively concrete findings on important issues facing this country's educators. The result has been an extensive collection of effective schooling practices which have potential for increasing performance in young people. In reviewing effective schools literature, implications of the data were found…

This report assesses the relationship between teacher expectations and the achievement of black intermediate school students attending school in Fairfax County, Virginia, a relatively affluent part of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan Area. Information was culled from interviews with and observation of 46 black students, their peers, teachers,…

This combination report and guide is intended to assist a broad audience of state and local educational administrators, teacher educators, and state policymakers. The first chapter of the guide examines (1) current views from the field regarding procedures for defining teacher effectiveness, teacher supply and demand, factors affecting teacher…