The fishbone diagram developed by Mariano Bernardez (2009a, 2009b) in the introductory article to this issue of "Performance Improvement Quarterly" depicts the origins and interrelationships of the models and approaches of many fields and researchers that have contributed to human performance technology (HPT) as it is used today. We can…

Almost two years into the federal Race to the Top program, states are spending their shares of the $4 billion prize at a snail's pace--a reflection of the challenges the 12 winners face as they try to get ambitious education improvement plans off the ground. Through the end of March, the 11 states and the District of Columbia had spent just 14…

International indicators show that Finland has one of the most educated citizenries in the world, provides educational opportunities in an egalitarian manner, and makes efficient use of resources. But at the beginning of the 1990s, education in Finland was nothing special in international terms. The performance of Finnish students on international…

The 2012 MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools are outstanding examples of how determined and focused leaders create and sustain school improvement. The schools are places of strategic decision making where dedicated adults demonstrate their conviction that every student can and will achieve. Each of the schools demonstrates the efficacy…

The World Bank is clearly one of the most influential global intergovernmental operators for international development assistance. In recent decades, the Bank and other agencies have invested immense technical and financial resources in a troubled and unprecedented mission of revitalizing and restructuring the development of education in Africa. A…

The purpose of this case study is as follows: (1) to identify change within a single school, (2) to record and to categorize this change, and (3) to analyze this change within the targeted school, over a year, after implementation of a non-collaborative SIP through the perceptions of the instructional staff. This study explained how the Louisiana…

As the youth mental health crisis continues to worsen, there is a need for more evidence-based social-emotional interventions that can be applied in schools -- the setting in which youth are most likely to seek and receive mental health treatment (Simon et al., 2015). Further, exploring ways to culturally adapt interventions for marginalized…

The National Academy of Education (NAEd) undertook this consensus report on the evaluation and improvement of teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Specifically, this consensus report aims to (1) identify and disseminate best practices for evaluating and improving TPPs to promote teacher effectiveness and student achievement; (2) provide…

In the 2024 legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Chapter 551 of the Public Acts of 2024 (PC 551), the Mathematics Supports Act (the Act), codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-1-233 -- 49-1-234. The Act indicates the General Assembly's commitment to strong mathematics instruction in Tennessee to prepare students for postsecondary…

LifeSkills Training is the only program to prevent substance use disorder among adolescents that has evidence of effects on substance use outcomes from multiple randomized controlled trials. Evaluations have shown that the version for middle school students reduces their use of substances in high school, but these studies were conducted in the…

California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) is continuing its five-year grant, "An Equitable Pathway to In-Demand STEM Careers," which began in Fall 2021 to facilitate Hispanic students' degree completion and career preparation in STEM fields. In its third year, the grant team followed the original proposal to: 1. Offer effective…

Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) provides a commentary on the manuscripts in this special issue, responding to criticisms of edTPA as an assessment that narrows the curriculum, heavily relies on students' academic writing skills, and creates additional burdens for teacher candidates. The commentary highlights how edTPA…

Administrators of higher education systems have found that their state and federal funding have been adversely affected by the economic crisis plaguing the United States, but they must still provide the student population with an environment that is conducive to learning. To accomplish this task, administrators of both secondary and post-secondary…

Traditional developmental mathematics sequences are a major impediment for community college students who need to acquire college-level mathematics credit in order to attain their long-term academic goals. Each year, approximately 500,000 students fail to complete their developmental mathematics coursework, jeopardizing their ability to earn an…

Public schools have responsibilities not only for academic growth of students, but they are also responsible for the "whole child," considering social, emotional, and mental health development. Schools are places where identifying students who pose risk for violence is the responsibility of teachers, students themselves, counselors, and…