This final report presents findings from a multi-year evaluation of the Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers, a federally funded program that provides technical assistance to states in connection with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. With the redesign of the Center…

This edition of "'LINCS' Resource Collection News" features the Program Management Collection, which covers the topics of Assessment, Learning Disabilities, and Program Improvement. Each month Collections News features one of the three "LINCS" (Literacy Information and Communication System) Resource Collections--Basic Skills, Program Management,…

This report describes the first year implementation of a new professional development program, Palm Beach County Afterschool Educator Certificate (PBC-AEC). Set within a larger systemic quality improvement effort in Palm Beach County, this training seeks to provide a concentrated course of learning, practice, and reflection. The training seeks to…

To be effective, teachers must be prepared to collaborate with families to support student success. Many studies confirm that strong parent-teacher relationships relate to positive student outcomes, such as healthy social development, high student achievement, and high rates of college enrollment. Thus, by giving teachers the support they need to…

The author has written this Guidebook to assist users interested in creating a campus that will be more global in its mission, programs, and people. His approach is to focus on the views and contributions of the people who are engaged in higher education. Thus it has a "person" emphasis rather than a structural or policy point of view. The author…

Due to teacher shortages, school districts have offered incentives and alternative licensure programs. Recently, however, school districts have shifted the focus from recruitment to one of teacher retention which places an emphasis upon beginning teacher induction programs. These programs help teachers improve in their craft of teaching, help…

Technology is a powerful tool with incredible potential for altering established forms of pedagogy. The school principal is the key factor affecting the successful integration of technology. The purpose of this study was to identify the leadership styles practiced by school principals who are implementing instructional technology in their…

A contextual analysis of the general education default and student benefit is presented from the perspective of school-based compliance with federal mandates from IDEIA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act] of 2004. A goal was to inform school administrators striving to develop and maintain effective, inclusive learning…

We investigated the effects of My Teaching Partner-Secondary (MTP-S), a teacher professional development intervention, on students' peer relationships in middle and high school classrooms. MTP-S targets increasing teachers' positive interactions with students and sensitive instructional practices and has demonstrated improvements in students'…

In their last column, the authors described a Gold Standard School--a place in which all children thrive including the gifted and talented. The Checklist for a Gold Standard School, which is included in this article, highlights the main characteristics of such a school including a focus on continuous progress, talent development, policies that…

Hurricane Katrina blew across the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools district in Chalmette, Louisiana, on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, bringing with it a wall of water that flooded everything for miles, putting the school system's 18 buildings under several feet of water filled with mud, gasoline, oil, dead fish, and other debris. Eleven weeks…

Historically, physical education has had a low status in schools. Physical education teachers have struggled to secure the resources and support needed to teach in an appropriate manner. As a result, physical education has been marginalized and has received limited attention in the school community. The purpose of this two-part feature is to…

Chronically high rates of new and experienced science teacher attrition and the findings of new large-scale mentoring programs indicate that administrators should adopt new approaches. A science teacher's role encompasses demanding responsibilities, such as observing laboratory safety and OSHA mandates, as well as management of a business-like,…

As the wave of educational transformation sweeps across the higher education landscape, few academics have been unaffected by its impact. It has been well documented that academics are ill-prepared to cope with the challenges of educational transformation, yet training and development that would provide the appropriate support to meet the demands…

We provide an overview of "EarlyStatistics," an online professional development course in statistics education targeting European elementary and middle school teachers. The course facilitates intercultural collaboration of teachers using contemporary technological and educational tools. An online information base offers access to all of…