Saying "teaching matters most" is easy, and seems obvious. Making it the top priority for school leaders and staff is not so easy--in fact, it's messy. If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must change how they teach. They must transform the old "assign-and-assess" model into engaging, compassionate, coherent,…

This brief by the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse is about reaching for the stars--stories of vision and commitment from educators in small and large schools. Everyone knows of people who are held up as "visionaries" throughout history: Leonardo Da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, Jules Verne, Thomas Edison, Susan Anthony, or John Dewey, to name a few. The…

This study examined Missouri's A+ Schools Program and its impact on school improvement. Effective schools research combined with the mission learning for all provided a conceptual foundation for guiding research development. A mixed-method design allowing a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data was applied using telephone interviews…

On July 24 and 25, 2012, members of the Task Force on Admissions in the 21st Century gathered in Reston, Virginia, to discuss the progress made by the implementation team in addressing action items from the Task Force's Preserving the Dream of America 2008 report; the current environment for admission; and actions to be taken to further the task…

This report identifies what are thought to be smart ways to redesign career paths and compensation for California teachers. It is known which changes are most likely to improve both teaching quality and student achievement, because these changes address what really matters in schools and what motivates teachers. These are not the traditional and…

In this article, the author describes their digital conversion initiative at Mooresville Graded School District. The project has placed a MacBook Air laptop in the hands of every 3rd through 12th grader and their teachers in the district over the past four years, with over 5,000 computers distributed. But they believe their academic successes have…

Web usability focuses on design elements and processes that make web pages easy to use. A website for college students was evaluated for underutilization. One-on-one testing, focus groups, web analytics, peer university review and marketing focus group and demographic data were utilized to conduct usability evaluation. The results indicated that…

As the concept of distributed leadership and its concomitant organizational structures become more prevalent in schools, studying how teacher capacity can be enhanced and can be used as a catalyst for reform is important. This article documents the nature of how the implementation of a research-validated reform influenced what teachers thought…

Drawing on data collected during an evaluation of Indiana schools receiving Title I 1003(g) School Improvement Fund grants in the 2008-2009 school year, this article explores how professional development can be used to support school improvement efforts. This article upholds the conclusion that when activities support the development of a…

This article features the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program at the University of Memphis. The McNair program is named after Ronald E. McNair, the second African-American in space, who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. Approximately 200 campuses across the nation host the program. Whereas the program…

In this qualitative case study, the in-service training (INSET) program, which was implemented for the first time at a state university in Turkey was investigated in order to find out the components of the program, and the views of instructors regarding the reasons for the emergence of INSET, the roles of the instructors in this process and the…

Student retention is important to any university, especially keeping commuter students who are traditionally less anchored in campus life. Even more at risk, given the leaky STEM pipeline, are STEM commuter students. In 2016, Valparaiso University launched the Establishing Practices Integrating Commuter Students (EPIC) program, centered around…

In the 2018-2019 academic year, more than 560,000 prospective teachers attended more than 21,500 teacher preparation programs (TPPs) housed in more than 2,100 institutions in the United States. Some will either never complete their program or fail to seek or secure teaching positions, but the majority will, and they will become a substantial part…

Our nation's economy and global competitiveness depend on an educated, skilled workforce that can quickly adapt to changes in technology and business processes. Adult educators understand that adult learners need opportunities to obtain workplace and career management skills through work-based learning experiences that prepare them for the complex…

Research on teaching and learning in TESOL has incorporated student opinions and student voices in a variety of ways. However, it is relatively rare to see studies that query students after they have exited a language program and can reflect more objectively on their experiences. The survey described in this article was sent to university second…