These papers examine causes of the crisis in school leadership, offering an innovative proposal for a new kind of institution that will train school principals to be turn-around artists. The approach involves close collaboration between the new institution and entire school districts, combining face-to-face instruction with Web-based delivery. Ten…

This paper describes the development of a Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between a comprehensive state university and an all kindergarten elementary school. The PDS coordinator began the process of collaboration with the school principal in spring 2002. The principal invited the PDS coordinator and a university faculty member to…

This Getting Started guide contains material presented at a two-day Additional Literacy Support (ALS) training course in the summer of 1999. ALS is designed to help pupils in Key Stage 2 who have already fallen behind in literacy, but who would not otherwise receive any additional support in this area. Each module includes a practical, high…

Teacher education in Germany has no subdiscipline dedicated to school administration. School principals and candidates for this position are offered short inservice training, but most of the necessary skills are acquired on the job. It remains unclear how principals master this challenge and to what extent these learning opportunities are…

A study evaluated the third year (2000-2001) of the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI), which is designed to achieve 100% literacy by targeting reading performance of beginning reading and first-grade students, to expand the reading power for second- through twelfth-grade students and to intervene for struggling readers at all grade levels. Reading…

This practice-oriented book brings together research and evaluation approaches and supporting case studies from educational researchers and teachers. The emphasis is on changing practice in higher education and the research that underpins desirable development. Following an introduction, chapter 1 presents Educational Development Changing Practice…

This document briefly describes one school district's experiences after deciding on a comprehensive guidance program model. The district chose the model described by Gysbers and Henderson (2000). A description is presented of the development, adoption, and implementation of the program. Staff and program assumptions needed for implementation are…

Each of the 161 National Writing Project sites offers an intensive institute every summer and invites distinguished local teachers of writing from all grade levels, from kindergarten through university, to attend. The institute focuses on these teachers, examining their exemplary classroom practices, supporting their work with research studies,…

Training is a technical term, applicable to interventions that result in a performance outcome, however, the term is often used inappropriately to elevate conglomerations of content to training status even though no performance improvement results, or is ever likely to result. Myths about evaluation, that it is optional, or too expensive, or…

The professional development program Using Literacy Integration for Communicating Scientifically (ULINCS) is a joint program of the University of Northern Colorado and Adams Twelve Five Star School District. It had been noted that the increased emphasis on literacy skills was leading educators to place less emphasis on science. The ULINCS project…

This paper focuses on a revised Professional Development School (PDS) program and what participant groups perceived to be key issues during the first year of implementation. It addresses the role of PDSs in improving the quality of beginning teachers within a non-supportive state policy environment. The George Mason University Elementary program…

This report provides useful information for those who are planning to incorporate online learning into professional development programs, as well as those who will design and implement online professional development activities. The Education Development center, Inc. (EDC) Center for Online Professional Education is continuing to explore this new…

Teachers who participated in invitational institutes of the National Writing Project (NWP) during summer 2005 responded to two surveys: a Client Satisfaction Survey immediately following the institutes, and a Follow-up Survey of Program Impact one year later. The two surveys together assess the quality and usefulness of the institutes for…

This document summarizes the results obtained by the AprenDes project in 2004, the project's first year of implementation. It provides the principal findings on program performance from a baseline in May 2004 to the end of the school year (late October 2004). Progress on a number of project objectives related to decentralized school- and…

Many children in urban communities struggle with reading and writing despite efforts to implement best instructional practices. This book will help classroom teachers, teacher educators, and undergraduate students bridge cultural gaps to help these children achieve in literacy. The reader will enrich cultural understandings as they learn about how…