In March, 2016, the state of New Mexico established a Remediation Task Force to examine remediation reform efforts across the state's higher education institutions. On March 11, the Task Force met for the "New Mexico Corequisite Remediation at Scale Policy Institute" in order to learn about the results of the latest national reform…

The Duke Endowment launched its Child Abuse Prevention Initiative in 2002 by funding two program sites, the Durham Family Initiative in Durham, North Carolina, and Strong Communities in Greenville, South Carolina. Both sites aimed to reduce rates of child abuse, improve parenting practices and behaviors, strengthen community service systems, and…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a school-wide, integrative approach to instruction and intervention that provides a continuum of services to all students, both within general and special education. Further, RTI focuses on the frequent monitoring of student progress using formative and summative assessments, and providing students with…

The Achieving the Dream (ATD) initiative works with more than 100 community colleges across the United States with the specific goal of increasing student success. Together, Achieving the Dream colleges graduate or transfer close to 250,000 students a year. With just a 5 percent increase in graduation rates, individuals can positively impact the…

The current study aims to describe the patient and treatment characteristics of a sample of 505 suicides by mental health care patients, and to determine how clinicians view the care provided and what they learned. The results indicate that the quality of mental health care for suicidal patients could be improved by focusing on communication among…

State coordinators of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs completed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, or SWOT, analysis that consisted of 12 evaluative areas of EHDI programs. For the quality improvement area, a total of 218 items were listed by 47 EHDI coordinators, and themes were identified in each…

The Increasing Course Rigor Pilot Project, a joint initiative of the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices and ACT, Inc., is one component of Phase Two of the NGA Center for Best Practices Honor States Grant Program. The project, which began in winter 2006 and concluded in summer 2007, was designed to improve the quality…

The Massachusetts Department of Education's Accountability and Targeted Assistance (ATA) Center maintains and manages the state's School and District Accountability System. Results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are used to identify public schools and districts that are likely to require state intervention in order…

This paper reports that the basic opportunity to learn does not exist in many countries, and that a concerted management focus to assure that schools provide basic elements of an opportunity to learn (OTL) could potentially yield big improvements in learning. The paper assesses: (1) what basic factors create the opportunity to learn; and (2) to…

Hispanic-Serving Institutions have the opportunity to be trendsetters in higher education. As Latino representation in higher education continues to increase across all states and institution types, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)--public or private nonprofit degree-granting colleges with enrollments of 25 percent or more Hispanic…

The Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) is a province-wide partnership program whose goal is to improve student learning and performance by fostering initiatives that reflect the unique needs and circumstances of each school authority. It is currently ending its third cycle and ninth year of implementation. "The Colloquium on…

The inability of students to become proficient in algebra seems to be widespread in American schools. One of the reasons often cited for this inability is that instruction seldom builds on prior knowledge. Research suggests that teacher effectiveness is the most critical controllable variable in improving student achievement. This report details a…

This report describes the Albert Shanker Institute's activities over the past five years in the areas of education, labor, and democracy. In the area of education, the Institute has sponsored a wide range of forums, seminars, reports, and other activities that highlight the best thinking and solid research on the most effective ways to improve…

Using the "HSTW" ["High Schools That Work"] Assessment Reading Test results, SREB [Southern Regional Education Board] has identified a set of literacy-based experiences that may contribute to higher reading achievement. This report explains the different school and classroom practices experienced by students reading above and below the Proficient…

A new generation of faculty is entering the academic workforce and they are increasingly dissatisfied with current working environments. Institutions must begin to address the changing nature of this new generation. This article reports on a New Faculty Orientation program based on elements of the learner-centered pedagogy. The goal was to achieve…