The earth sciences is an evolving set of disciplines encompassing more than 30 specialties; however, earth scientists continue to be trained within the traditional disciplinary structure. Earth science education should focus not only on student acquisition and retention of factual knowledge, but also on the development of higher-order skills…

The views of 59 teachers at 11 further education (FE) colleges in five of England's nine regions were interviewed in depth regarding the factors that promote and prevent improvements in student retention and achievement. Those teachers who taught on teams with the highest retention and achievement focused on key elements of teaching and learning…

C. June Maker, Professor at the University of Arizona, has developed a unique performance-based assessment in which children are observed by teams of teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, administrators, specialists in education of the gifted and bilingual education, and local community members. The assessment, designed initially to …

The Increased Flexibility Programme for 14 to 16 year olds (IFP) was introduced in 2002. The aim of the programme was to "create enhanced vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14 to 16 year olds of all abilities who can benefit most", including supporting provision of the GCSEs in vocational subjects. The first cohort of…

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention for increasing student academic and social responsibility. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten, 1st, and 5th grade students in a growing middle-class community in central Illinois. The problems of irresponsible academic and social behavior were documented through…

This report describes efforts by Alverno College (Wisconsin) to reform the traditional liberal arts curriculum and redefine the relevance of women's colleges. Beginning in the early 1970s, the college began to refocus student learning by integrating ability development and performance-based knowledge. Faculty and staff redefined the curriculum,…

Current school improvement tools are largely piecemeal and often lack credible supportive evidence. Knowledge Work Supervision (KWS) is built on the premise that schools must develop the capacity for sustaining districtwide improvements. Chapter 1, "The Past Before Us Is Not the Future," summarizes the key elements of the four phases of…

"Contested Ground: Performance Accountability in Adult Basic Education" (ABE) is one of the most important books on adult literacy policy at the turn of the century. In it, Juliet Merrifield examines the critical issues of policy, practice, and theory with which the field is currently consumed. She and her colleagues maintain that the concept of…

The Enterprise Florida Jobs and Education Partnership has taken actions to resolve issues raised in a previous report. The legislature has expanded the partnership's work force development (WFD) role; assigned it a role in implementing the state's welfare-to-work program; and established additional incentive funding for WFD program outcomes. The…

The Equipped for the Future (EFF) framework describes adult performance along these four dimensions: structure of the knowledge-base; fluency of performance; independence of performance; and range of conditions for performance. When completed it will include a developmental sequence of descriptions of learner performance for each EFF standard;…

This book presents a preschool framework that integrates literacy activities into content area lessons while embedding instruction within adult-child social interactions and realistic, playful activities tailored to each child's individual needs. Chapter 1 of the book delineates the theory and rationale behind the framework, and outlines essential…

This paper describes an initiative developed at Pittsburg State University, Kansas, that involved radically changing the program's performance-based standards and expanding the structure of the student teaching experiences to include multiple avenues of training and assessing teacher development. The paper: (1) identifies characteristics in each…

Three presentations are provided from Symposium 32, Core Directions in HRD (Human Resource Development), of the Academy of HRD 2000 Conference Proceedings. "Exploring the Convergence of Political and Managerial Cultures in the Dominican Republic: Implications for Management Development and Training" (Max U. Montesino) reports a survey of…

In 1998, the Board of Directors for the Washington State Institute for Public Policy directed staff to study teacher quality. The Institute examined three teacher preparation and development programs covering the early stages of teachers' careers: pre-service teacher preparation, beginning teacher assistance, and professional certification.…

This annual report on the performance of the three Arizona universities, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, informs the general public, elected officials, business leaders, and consumers of higher education about the universities' progress and milestones. In preparing the report, the universities…