Very few people would disagree that the work of the principal is multifaceted, hectic, and fraught with uncertainties, and given the ongoing press for accountability, the very work of the principal as instructional leader is shifting to ensure "results." There are myriad day-to-day activities that take principals away from the important work of…

This book is intended to serve as a stimulus for discussion of what is needed to provide all American children with a world-class education opportunity and to make education a top priority in every state and the country as a whole. A range of contributors offer a diverse number of possible solutions to the current educational crisis in American…

My research study explored how principals make sense of their role in a Professional Development School. Previous research related to Professional Development Schools has focused on teachers and university students, while few empirical studies have been focused on principals and the role they play in K-12 and university partnerships. This…

In the Fall of 2006, Education Resource Strategies (ERS), a nation-wide leader in helping school systems make the most of their resources, was invited by Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) to study the use of resources in the district and create priority recommendations to inform the district's strategic plan. Saint Paul is in a situation where…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (2002), all schools are required to demonstrate that all students make annual yearly progress (AYP). This can be difficult, particularly for students in urban schools and even more so for students with disabilities. The authors report on one large urban school district's attempts to provide support to 140 schools…

Background/Context: In an era of high stakes accountability, public school districts struggle to improve teaching and learning for all students. As a result, effective professional development approaches for teachers are a high priority. Recently, teachers' learning communities (LCs) have been recommended because successful LCs foster teacher…

An exploratory study of the refugees in the Toronto (Ontario, Canada) public school system examined: (1) their situation, including their numbers and distributions, countries of origin, demographic characteristics, and challenges and needs at school; (2) how teachers and other school staff deal with the situation, and the kinds of difficulties…

Unlike traditional postsecondary education, continuing professional education (CPE) does not have a long-established system of legally recognized program providers coupled with a quality control mechanism of institutional and specialized accrediting bodies. Accrediting bodies are just beginning to insist on CPE quality standards comparable to…

This book describes outcomes of the Maine Academy for School Leaders (MASL) a professional development program designed to improve student-learning outcomes through improved leadership performance. It evaluates the impact of new leadership behaviors on the 58 participants' schools. One-half of the participants were teachers or other staff who held…

This paper uses examples of systemic sex discrimination at one Canadian university to illustrate the need to continue to redress the causes of such discrimination. An opening section explores some legal definitions of systemic discrimination from court decisions and government regulation. Using these, this section develops a working definition of…

This report documents the status of leadership training in 15 states in the southern United States. It notes that the public push for increased accountability necessitates the preparation of leaders who can stimulate peak performance. The report offers information on the Southern Regional Education Board's Leadership Academy, which has identified…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the NICU Follow-Through Project, a 3-year project designed to help hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and community developmental centers serving infants with disabilities or very low birth weights (VLBW) replicate the project's innovative and successful training components.…

These 15 papers cover a wide range of topics and perspectives on the work of Adult Literacy and Basic Education (ALBE) practitioners in Victoria, Australia, in the contemporary ideological and political context. A preface (John Wilson) and introduction (Delia Bradshaw) begin the anthology. The papers are as follows: "...A…

One of the suggestions for improving the professional development of school leaders is to adopt some of the practices used in other professional fields. This paper explores three models of professional development traditionally followed in medicine, law, and the Catholic priesthood to assess the extent to which these approaches are likely to…

Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, reauthorized under the Hawkins Stafford Amendments, provides federal funds for the improvement of mathematics and science teaching at all levels of elementary and secondary education, targeting improvement of teacher skills, instructional quality, and student access to instruction. In 1993-94…