This checklist is designed to help states at various stages develop their system of support to reach struggling high schools. The checklist can be used to assess where your state is in terms of the elements of using existing support and guidance mechanisms, and reconfiguring and/or creating new structures to leverage system change for high school…

The residential construction industry, like much of today's job market, requires young people to have more analytical reasoning ability and a broader skill base. Along with this comes a deeper understanding of what it means to provide students with "good" soft skills. Soft skills are more than just saying thank you. Choosing a career is…

Scholars and practitioners have long criticized teacher evaluation as ineffective. Peer assistance and review (PAR) alters traditional teacher evaluation, as master teachers conduct summative as well as formative assessment of beginning teachers and veteran teachers in need of intervention. Relying on data from a longitudinal case study of one…

This qualitative study evaluated the Technology Supported Induction Network's (TSIN) effect on 15 elementary education student teachers in isolated rural schools. The student teachers were 50-300 miles away from their university; thus, it was difficult for faculty to provide support and supervision. The TSIN provided student teachers with…

As teachers face increasing demands to meet the needs of students with special needs in inclusive classrooms, there is a corresponding increase in the need for professional development opportunities for practicing teachers in areas that will assist them to become more knowledgeable in meeting these needs. One area of concern for teachers is the…

The amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require states address the training needs of in-service and pre-service personnel for developing and implementing positive intervention strategies (Gable, Quinn, Rutherford, & Howell, 1998; Shelladay & Stichter, 1999; The Center for Effective Collaboration and…

Video is a powerful medium for communication and learning. With increased accessibility to digital video production equipment, an important question is what role teacher production of video might have in teacher education. Using the lens of design that highlights authenticity, efficacy, and expressiveness as goals, 38 in-service teachers designed…

The experiences of middle school science teachers at two schools in the southeastern US who participated in collaborative, sustained, whole-school professional development and their implementation of standards-based instructional practices are the focus of this study. Participants were involved in their second year of the professional development…

The public is deeply concerned that students in urban settings are not achieving at high levels. Over the past twenty years, large urban districts have attempted to restructure massive school systems using educational policymaking processes that have focused on school structures, standards-driven curriculum, and test-based accountability measures.…

The Program for Disadvantaged Youth, funded by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, understood that the ultimate impact of the program on students would depend on the capacity of principals to take on new leadership roles and responsibilities. This report analyzes principals' perceptions of the variety of professional development opportunities in…

A multi-institutional database has been established to characterize selected aspects of the professional and personal lives of physicians 5 to 10 years after graduation from combined baccalaureate-M.D. degree (CD) programs. The purpose of this study is to explore whether these graduates' attitudes toward their education, their practice patterns,…

This publication presents findings of a study that explored the professional needs of principals at various stages in their careers. Data were collected from several sources: two focus groups of Texas principals; a regional survey of 97 principals; an analysis of the professional development plans of five Texas rural school principals and six…

Noting that within the area of literacy, writing is a young area of study, this research report looks at the impact of the national Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy's 10 years of sustained research. The paper first considers how Center research projects and activities have been tied together to address three interlocking sets of…

This report contains the findings of two task forces established during 1994 by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence: (1) the Task Force on Improving Kentucky Schools; and (2) the Task Force on Restructuring Time and Learning. The task forces, comprised of parents and business members of the Prichard Committee, examined key elements of…

Partnering for Elementary Environmental Science, a professional development program developed to enhance teachers' skills and content knowledge in science education, pairs classroom teachers with resource professionals for one year of collaborative instruction. This paper reports part of the evaluation and research related to the program.…