California is taking a bold new approach to the evaluation of school performance, the provision of data to parents and educators, and the use of accountability to improve student learning. Broadly speaking, the state is stepping away from the consequential accountability that was compelled under No Child Left Behind and toward a system that relies…

This study was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between two of New York City's accountability tools, and, if so, to what the extent this correlation exists. The ongoing calls for school reform have left individual states and school systems initiating one program after another in an effort to improve student achievement. New York…

As educators move into a new era of educational reform, it becomes imperative that teachers use evidence-based instructional practices shown to be effective for students with disabilities. One area that plays a role in this process is secondary transition. The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center has identified 63…

Professional development is a necessary component of maintaining competency in professional practice. Technology has opened the door to new formats for delivering professional development, in addition to more traditional modes of training. This study compared three professional development formats for improving the quality of standards-based…

Virtually every school district in the country is dealing with the need to reduce their budget. The process used to make those decisions varies from state to state but almost always includes a combination of short and long-term approaches. In many school districts the emphasis is on reducing individual budget line items and not filling vacant…

Wouldn't it be great if all your teachers were as good as your best? Teaching is often an isolated profession in which teachers work behind closed doors, doing their own thing. Peer coaching is a collaborative, ongoing process that can increase the effectiveness of all your teachers. This "Focus On" is designed to lead a faculty into the…

It is difficult to make a clear impact statement about charter schools. Much of the available research is equivocal, and many important questions related to the impact of charter schools remain unanswered. Researchers have primarily examined four general topics with respect to the impact of charter schools; (1) Do charter schools raise student…

This article examines the case of the Winston Society, a short-lived wikispace created by a high school English teacher to foster collaborative knowledge-making and social activism among educators. Through an examination of the wiki, questionnaires, and a focal group interview, this paper describes an examination of reasons the "Winston…

States are working to improve their graduation rates, in part because of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) high school accountability requirements. This is taking place at the same time that 26 states have implemented exit examinations to determine, in part, whether a student has gained the knowledge and skills to earn a standard diploma and be prepared…

The issue of research dissemination via websites is part of the larger research utilization question, and the authors begin with a review of literature on the theory and best practices in dissemination. The second part of the study involves an exploratory examination of the websites and dissemination practices of 30 research centers focusing on…

The PDK/Gallup Poll on the Public's Attitudes about Public Education continually reports that there is a positive grading trend with parents when asked to assign a grade to their local school, however, less than 20 percent of the public give our schools across the nation a grade of an A or B. This negative perception of education encourages the…

Federal legislation (Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act, No Child Left Behind) mandates access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. As a response, K-12 schools are moving to coteaching models with increased frequency (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008). However, preservice teachers…

In this article, the authors discuss a rural middle school teacher's use of YouTube, digital stories, and blogs in a language arts curriculum. The authors also share the voices of middle school students as they learn through this technology in the classroom. Although a wide variety of technology integration exists in this middle school language…

This article shares how school counselors-in-training are oriented to cultivate strengths-based professional identities based on culturally relevant and evidence-based practices that support the developmental learning abilities of all students. Professional identity and positive youth development are tied to practices, Web sites, and resources…

The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) placed pressure on elementary teachers to raise standardized test scores in reading and mathematics. Unfortunately, the focus on reading and math has led to reduced time for science instruction. Mandatory standardized testing in science began in elementary schools across the United States in 2007. Instructing…