For school districts in California, just as one set of revolutionary new content standards is beginning to feel familiar, another deep change is brewing. Districts have now had more than five years to wrestle with how they implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M) (NGA Center & CCSSO, 2010). Many have made large-scale…

Students will face enormous challenges in the coming years--from an economy shaped by ever-advancing technologies to the impact of globalization--and need the strongest foundation of academic, technical, and problem-solving skills we can offer. In an effort to improve their educational experiences, schools across the country are exploring and…

This article first presents findings from a report from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and the National Staff Development Council titled "Professional Development in the United States: Trends and Challenges." The report raised the issue of the "intensity" of professional development--that is, the number…

The Arkansas Department of Education Co-teaching Project was designed to assist Arkansas schools in the implementation of more inclusive service delivery models for students with disabilities. The project began due to a need to increase the number of students being served in less restrictive environments, but evolved into a systematic statewide…

This Facilitator's Guide has been prepared for presenters of the "Language Development for English Language Learners" professional development module. It accompanies the 67-slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker's notes and contains materials to help prepare for a professional development session, including activity instructions, handouts,…

The instructional improvement model Data on Enacted Curriculum was tested with an experimental design using randomized place-based trials. The improvement model is based on using data on instructional practices and achievement to guide professional development and decisions to refocus on instruction. The model was tested in 50 U.S. middle schools…

The quality of high schools--how well they prepare students for productive employment as well as active citizenship--has been part of the state and national agendas for several years. To help complete an action plan for addressing the issue of high school quality, the Iowa Department of Education and State Board of Education during the spring of…

Project REAL (Rural Education Aligned for Learning) aims to improve mathematics and science education in grades 5-8 in five rural Ohio school districts identified as in "academic emergency" or on "academic watch." Program goals are to reform curricula to teach skills and concepts, rather than facts; improve students' math and…

This document outlines the National Center for Research Vocational Education's 1995 agenda. The agenda is divided into two parts. Part 1 summarizes the center's plans for research and development activities on the following six themes: the economic context of vocational education (VE); institutions, "systems," governance, and policy;…

This document presents the 1992 research and service agendas for the National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE). It begins with NCRVE's mission statement. Part 1 contains research project descriptions. It sets forth the six issue areas into which NCRVE's research agenda is divided and then groups the descriptions into these…

The purpose of this document is to provide operators with implementation and operational technical assistance related to special education in charter schools. Special education is a very complicated component of public education and providing operators with technical assistance regarding special education is particularly challenging. This primer…