Describes process followed by counseling staff as it began to transform guidance and counseling program at one high school from traditional therapeutic model to service-based program for all students. Model presented benefits both students and counselors: students are served by variety of counselors and counselors use their unique skills and…

Secondary vocational teachers in Indiana (n=186) indicated they were motivated to improve programs by concern for students, professional growth, and desire to keep current. They believed that program improvement enhances professional development, but lacked time to plan for improvement and were skeptical about administrators' ability to reduce…

Discusses the need to keep union lists of serials holdings updated and describes efforts by the University of Notre Dame library to update holdings on the Indiana Union List so that fill rates for interlibrary loan requests are improved. Results are reported that indicate an improvement in fill rates. (LRW)

Presents four ways to improve broadcasts of company satellite conferences, including creative site selection (using facilities at educational institutions rather than hotel rooms); creative programming (using graphics and other interruptions to break up lectures or speeches); creative crew selection; and creative downlink site activities (to…

Attempts to locate the changes and challenges to the traditional understanding of what journalism is, to describe ways of dealing with them up to this point, and to formulate a number of arenas to explore initiatives to educate the new journalists of today and tomorrow. Notes that the argument is based on recent developments in journalism…

An expert panel and consensus workshops identified eight general hallmarks and 23 related indicators of person-centered approaches in planning and providing services and supports to individuals with mental retardation. The applicability of person-centered features and indicators to improving services and supports is discussed. (Contains…

Draws on data from three Head Start programs to examine how "culture" influences program improvement. Shows how culture takes shape through dynamic interactions in particular contexts, constituting identities, structuring social relationships, and privileging particular forms of knowledge. Highlights the importance of illuminating forces…

Responses from 47 of 78 Clemson University extension specialists identified three critical professional development needs: communicating program impact to key decision makers, communicating client problems to researchers, and viewing problems from different perspectives. They felt that their expertise in other areas was high. (Contains 16…

Mentors and proteges from two formal mentoring programs were interviewed about the benefits associated with program participation, problems encountered in the program, and recommendations for program improvements. The most commonly reported benefits for proteges included learning, coaching, career planning, and psychosocial support. Mentors most…

The authors summarize the special section in the journal of Counselor Education and Supervision (Vol. 45, No. 4, June 2006) on school counseling supervision and present implications to guide the practice of school counselor supervision. The implications for practice, training, research, and professional standards for school counselors are…

Teacher quality is a central pillar of the No Child Left Behind Act for good reason. Without high-quality teachers, one cannot realize the goal of high achievement for all students. In turn, if preservice teachers do not receive the highest-quality teacher preparation, then one cannot meet the demand for high-quality teachers. Few would argue…

How do you make something better? This is a fundamental question of professional development the national network of Young Audiences (YA) undertook to answer about its artist residency programs. The basic question assumes that those asking the question know what the "something" is, how effective it is in its current state, and what "it" is…

Birmingham City University's Library and Learning Resources' strategic aim is to improve student satisfaction. A key element is the achievement of the Customer Excellence Standard. An important component of the standard is the mapping of services to improve quality. Library and Learning Resources has developed a methodology to map these…

The foundation year and specialization year of study are the accepted framework for graduate social work education. A common belief among educators is that accreditation standards are prescriptive by design, resulting in a rigidity that neither encourages nor supports curricular innovation. This article outlines a newly developed curriculum model…

Although studies of districts' and schools' use of research exist, little is known about how SEAs search for, select, and use research and other kinds of evidence in their school improvement strategies. While one might assume similarities in research use behaviors, both the organizational structures of SEAs and the population of external…