There has been increased interest in retention and completion with regard to tertiary student outcomes in relation to students' successful completion of their study and what influences this. In New Zealand, the government through the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has made it clear that it expects institutions to meet retention and completion…

In 2003, the California State University, Northridge (CSUN) undertook the challenge of becoming a learning-centered institution. In a 2005 article, the authors discussed how the learning-centered model at CSUN has renewed its previous, scattered efforts at student retention. In this article, the authors describe the transformation that occurred at…

Under the leadership of Tony Blair New Labour committed itself to raise standards, tackle educational failure and use education to combat disadvantage. This paper examines New Labour's approaches to school improvement, particularly the origins and enactment of "zero tolerance" strategies, the different groups of schools identified as…

The School Administration Manager (SAM) project, supported by The Wallace Foundation as part of its education initiative, focuses on changing the conditions in schools that prevent principals from devoting more time to instructional leadership. In schools participating in the National SAM Project, principals have made a commitment to increase the…

The Durham Family Initiative (DFI) is one of two community-based child abuse prevention efforts that comprise The Duke Endowment's Child Abuse Prevention Initiative. Beginning in 2002, the Endowment provided support to the Durham Family Initiative (DFI) in North Carolina and Strong Communities in South Carolina to develop a comprehensive approach…

This article constructs learning to teach for social justice as a complex but assessable outcome of teacher preparation. It provides a conceptual framework and describes a set of assessment tools and studies that use quantitative and qualitative methods for the collection and analysis of data. We conceptualize learning to teach for social justice…

This article describes the initiation of a statewide public-private partnership to expand and enhance services for infants, toddlers, and their families. It presents information regarding the initiation and implementation of the project; the program requirements, including those for professional development; and the design of a three-phase program…

In 1983, after over 10 years of working on mathematics education reform in the Philippines, I wrote a paper for a Tokyo conference arguing that education reform in developing countries such as the Philippines should begin by working on macro-problems, namely the social, political, and economic environment of the schools, as a context for the…

Bad relationships between a college board and its faculty can lead to erosion of the board's authority, faculty votes of no confidence, and general institutional instability. However, institutions like Randolph-Macon College are finding ways to improve the lack of understanding and sympathy between faculty members and trustees.

In 1988, Research for Better Schools (RBS) proposed the development of state-specific rural assistance councils (RAC) in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to assist in strengthening rural school-community partnerships and in planning rural school improvement. This report summarizes the activities of each of the four RACs during…

This guide for school improvement uses as its foundation the Concerns-Based Adoption Model which describes the changing feelings of individuals as they learn about, prepare for, use, and refine new practices. Seven linear steps are depicted as they relate to the school improvement process: (1) establishing the school improvement project: (2)…

In response to recommendations by a task force on teaching and teacher education, the state of Wisconsin established the Teacher Incentives Pilot Program. The goal of the program is to plan, develop, and administer a series of pilot projects which model different types of incentives designed to attract, prepare, and retain competent teachers.…

This paper explores an innovative approach to funding school improvement programs. It looks at a series of programs initiated by the National College of Education in collaboration with several corporations and foundations in the Chicago metropolitan area. The evolution of the College's participation in these endeavors is reported as well as the…

The objectives of the Pennsylvania School Improvement Program (PSIP), funded by the National Institute of Education from 1976 to 1980, were to help schools analyze basic skills needs and improve student performance through the use of research-based programs and techniques. The data uncovered the need to improve instructional management, improve…

In 1971-72 the South Carolina State Library prepared the South Carolina State Program for Library Development, 1972-1977 (ED 070 487). But the Administration's proposal to terminate Library Services and Construction Act funding resulted in the revision of the original program. This supplementary paper describes the goals and programs which were…