Romain Bertrand is a middle school math teacher and Opportunity Culture enthusiast. As the 2012-13 school year wound down, he was already thoroughly looking forward to the next--when he will become a multi-classroom leader at Ranson IB Middle School, taking accountability for the learning results of 700 students. At Ranson, a Project L.I.F.T.…

An academic plan is a business plan disguised in the regalia donned for significant public ceremonies--black cap and gown, colorful hood, and, of course, gold tassel. Several years ago, the University of Connecticut started to plan for the economic disaster that was at the time so obviously in the future of higher education institutions. A formal…

An adjunct turned writing program administrator reflects on her professional journey and describes efforts to improve the teaching environment amongst composition faculty--primarily part-time--within her department. Based on a local program review, a pilot faculty relations plan was implemented that addressed two major areas: offering more…

Leading school change is a challenging endeavor. Successful leadership requires strategic and sustained effort, particularly in the shifting and uncertain environment of urban public schools. The concept of distributed leadership--in which multiple actors tackle the challenges of school leadership in concert--is a promising way to strengthen…

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…

As the number of charter schools has grown nationally, there is increasing discussion of the consolidation of such schools into charter districts in which all schools would be charter schools from which parents would have the freedom to choose the school that they wished their student to attend. A major question is how such a charter school…

Hargreaves and Shirley's "The Fourth Way" offers a valuable framework for considering the challenges and dilemmas that confront education change practitioners. In this article, I consider how well their framework fits the evolution and more recent changes in Singapore education. History, context culture and aspirations are seen as…

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is an approach that recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of diverse learners and requires the teacher to base instructional accommodations on student strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, teachers use DI strategies to adjust the content, process, or product of instruction depending on student needs. Given the…

This article will explore lifelong learning and community participation for older women. In doing so, it will draw on empirical work undertaken with the National Federation of Women's Institutes in England and Wales in the UK; and the Sydney Older Women's Network in Australia. The article will briefly outline something of the policies and…

The present study investigated the district-wide characteristics of relational ties among a sample of K-12 teachers implementing the Common Core comprehensive education reform. This study addressed deficits in current scholarly understanding of the social influences in schools that impact delivery of educational reform efforts such as the Common…

Adult learning and open education have become key elements on the European Agenda. This paper presents the first results of a foresight activity that aims to contribute to an understanding of how "Opening up Education" can improve adult learning in Europe in the future. It argues that to open up adult learning two main challenges must be…

It has been widely publicized that approximately 98% of the teachers in the United States are rated as satisfactory (Weisberg, Sexton, Mulhern, & Keeling, 2009). This has led many Americans to think that there are very few ineffective teachers in the United States. But is this true? This study indicated that a majority of the principals in the…

When Rocketship Education, a pioneering, rapidly expanding charter school network, looked at its results, it could have rested on its laurels. With seven schools in California together ranking as the top public school system for low-income elementary students, Rocketship had proof that its blended-learning model--combining online learning with…

A strong VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between superintendent leadership and the operational processes of school improvement. School district superintendents (N = 226) from six southeastern states were surveyed concerning their leadership authenticity and school improvement practices. Descriptive statistics, analyzes of…