The quality of high schools--how well they prepare students for productive employment as well as active citizenship--has been part of the state and national agendas for several years. To help complete an action plan for addressing the issue of high school quality, the Iowa Department of Education and State Board of Education during the spring of…

This publication explores adult literacy and numeracy. In particular, it draws on major insights from research conducted during 2003 and 2004 for the Adult Literacy National Project funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Science and Training. Key messages include: (1) Literacy and numeracy skills are shaped by…

Community college teacher preparation programs have grown significantly in the last decade, but, as the recommendations and examples from "Teaching by Choice" indicate, greater expansion and innovation is both desirable and possible. Community colleges can provide a diverse stream of K-12 educators highly qualified to teach science, mathematics,…

This report presents the results of a survey of nearly all (98.5%) of the California institutions of higher education that train adults to teach children under the age of five, including associate, bachelor's, master's and PhD programs. Data is presented on program, student, and faculty characteristics as well as language supports for students and…

This report examines the implementation of the first year of the Pennsylvania High School Coaching Initiative. Funded by the Annenberg Foundation, it is an on-site professional development initiative that employs instructional coaches using Penn Literacy Framework in an attempt to improve the level of teacher instruction in districts across the…

This document is the first three-year environmental education plan for New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The plan is guided by a vision to achieve effective and integrated environmental education which builds the capacity of the people of NSW to be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability. The plan's priority…

This study of 67 preservice and 67 inservice teachers' performances on computer-based scenarios, prompting instructional decision-making and using embedded assessment, illustrates differences in how experienced and novice teachers make technology integration decisions. The major findings that emerged from the comparative analysis of novice and…

This collection of research reports is intended to advance the understanding of schools through empirical study and theoretical analysis. The reports are as follows: "The Punctuated Equilibrium of National Reading Policy: Literacy's Changing Images and Venues" (Celia Sims and Cecil Miskel); "Productive Campus Leadership Responses to…

This dissertation examines the following questions: (1) What are the characteristics and teaching practices of faculty that lead to higher student outcomes? (2) How do community colleges effectively support the efforts of faculty, who are successful in producing high student outcomes? (3) How can this knowledge be incorporated into an effective…

The School Improvement Specialist Project prepared seven modules. School improvement specialists, as defined by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia, are change agents who work with schools to help them improve in the following areas so as to increase student achievement. These modules are intended to provide training materials for…

The Creative Curriculum for Preschool is a comprehensive resource for establishing and sustaining a quality preschool program. The first of two volumes of trainer's guides to The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, this book offers detailed workshops and handouts on the foundation of the curriculum, four of the five components of the curriculum…

This paper examines the development of a comprehensive assessment system within a school-university educator preparation collaborative, detailing the evidence sources used in relation to the three categories into which the assessment system is organized (performance, process, and program). The Professional Development School Network (PDSN) was…

This paper presents a model and process for shared decision making among teacher education faculty, PreK-12 educators, and College of Science and Mathematics (COSM) faculty at Wright State University (WSU), Ohio. WSU used a process model to plan and articulate the simultaneous renewal of the education of educators and school teachers. The College…

This inservice professional development module, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, presents research summaries, notes for presenters, and activities. The Phonemic Awareness and Phonics module clarifies that skilled readers are accurate and automatic decoders (i.e., they have the alphabetic principle). Phonics instruction must empower all…

This document is comprised of four issues of a quarterly publication presenting information related to the Reggio Emilia approach to preschool education. Regularly appearing features of the publication include editorials, a calendar of conferences and workshops of related interest, a list of Reggio networks in the United States and Canada, and a…