Laptop learning programs have been developed to create ubiquitous online learning environments. Given the infancy of many programs, there is little understanding of aspects of the program are perceived to provide value to faculty and students. This paper focuses on the value proposition (with respect to perceived benefits versus capital…

The process of teacher identification, selection, initial training, and on-going professional development that has developed at the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) over the past seven years is described and discussed in this article. Validation was based upon existing practices and research. To provide background the creation and initial…

With some notable exceptions, the school critics in the first and second "waves" of restructuring have largely neglected problems of resistance in implementation of reform. The primary task of managing change is not technical, but motivational. Building commitment to innovation among those who must implement it requires a focus on readiness.…

A study examined Ohio Even Start programs and their attempts to create integrated curricula within their programs. A survey was sent to all Even Start programs. Results indicated that: (1) most of the programs defined their integrated curricula in terms of the themes they designated as focal points (such as consumer skills, child discipline,…

Since 1988, considerable state and school/district energies have been devoted to implementing Re:Learning in Pennsylvania. This paper describes the experiences of Cycle I project directors who implemented Re:Learning in late 1988 or early 1989. Re:Learning is a national effort to redesign the total school system, based on Theodore Sizer's (1984)…

This manual describes the state of Washington's Literacy Day Care Link (DCL) program, whose volunteers spend an hour a week reading one-to-one with preschool children. The manual is a series of "stories" about the DCL program, stories that give insight into how the program works. The first section of the manual discusses setting up the…

This report summarizes for fiscal year 1995 the adult education activities implemented throughout the state of Florida in response to and in support of the Florida Model Literacy Program Act of 1978 (Florida Adult Literacy Act). In addition, the report presents a summary of the activities initiated under Blueprint 2000, legislation that…

Most people would agree that schools should strive to increase their effectiveness. This handbook provides leaders and facilitators of the school-improvement process with practical information and guidelines for conducting the day-to-day work of school change and improvement. The book is organized around five questions that represent stages of the…

Tech prep is a program of at least 2 years of structured high school training that leads to a postsecondary degree or certificate. Tech prep programs contain a rigorous common core of mathematics, science, communications, and technology at the secondary level that are geared specifically to a technical career path. Based on the Delaware…

This document presents the basics of the career academy, a method of integrating vocational with academic educational systems and of providing a contextually valid education. The first section outlines the problems that the academy systems attempt to address, the four major principles essential for the success of career academies, and the nine…

AmeriCorps is the largest national and community service program since the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s. Data from meeting with officials of AmeriCorps*USA; examination of grant files for all grantees' programs; review of Corporation program policies, guidance, and plans; random sampling of programs; and site visits to seven…

In 1994 the Ohio State Legislature established Venture Capital to support school restructuring. The Venture Capital school initiative is a concept borrowed from the business community in which the corporate entity provides risk capital to parts of the organization to stimulate creative ideas and to provide opportunities for local entities to try…

This document outlines a proposal for the implementation of "The Virtual Campus" program in New Brunswick, a distributed online learning environment that will support the participation of all regions of the province and all sectors involved in learning and training. It also supports the development of multimedia courseware at all…

Some educators view change as a positive process producing desirable improvements; others perceive it as a threatening force producing disruption and conflict. This paper presents findings of a study that examined whether changes in teachers' work lives affected teachers' attitudes toward educational change, and whether the resulting attitudes…

This report summarizes major initiatives, activities, and accomplishments of the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) and its network of state occupational information coordinating committees (SOICCs) during their 1994 and 1995 program years. The first part of the report contains the following: an overview of the…