Past successes in music education and teacher preparation must not cause us to ignore the nature and potential of present policy influences and strategic challenges. For a successful future, we must fervently protect certain ideas and conditions often obscured by illusions about present circumstances, possibilities, and powers. Illusions in areas…

This report provides a staff review of a proposal by the Solano Community College District to convert its existing facility in Vallejo to a state-approved off-campus educational center of Solano Community College. Educational centers can be a cost-effective means for meeting educational needs of a region through agreements with local high schools,…

The May/June 2009 issue of "Facilities Manager" introduced APPA readers to the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG)--today's most comprehensive Internet-based depository of resources contributing to a systems approach for everything of a building nature. The emphasis in that article was on Operations and Maintenance (O&M) issues and procedures. In…

When trying to reach their sustainability goals, schools and school districts often run into obstacles, including financing, training, and implementation tools. Last fall, the U.S. Green Building Council-Georgia (USGBC-Georgia) launched its High Performance, Healthy Schools (HPHS) Program to help Georgia schools overcome those obstacles. By…

Even as technology and globalization are changing the way one lives and views the world, colleges and universities have become increasingly interested in preserving historic campus buildings and sites. Heritage has become more important to students, faculty, and staff, as well as to alumni, who have often been its prime supporters. This article…

With detailed information about the costs and benefits of potential green investments, educational facilities can effectively evaluate which initiatives will ultimately provide the greatest results over the short and long term. Based on its overall goals, every school, college, or university will have different values and therefore different…

Guidelines are provided for creating learning environments for children centers. The guide can be used for the creation of either new centers, the re-design of existing centers, or when remodeling existing buildings. Each of the activity areas that may be contained in a children center is described in terms of their objectives, design…

Strategic planning provides a comprehensive, systematic, and flexible approach to charting direction. Lists an eight-step process and questions for strategic planning. Emphasizes the role of architects in strategic planning. (five references) (MLF)

After briefly describing the emergence and evolution of the global movement toward Education for All (EFA), the Introduction discusses the difficulties of employing target goals to bring about significant policy change and educational transformation. The article then presents a comprehensive overview of the uneven progress towards EFA since 2000,…

Can a capacity building policy encourage school leaders to engage in professional development that will increase their focus on student achievement and understanding of instructional leadership? To explore this issue, school administrators were interviewed and a content analysis of plans for professional development generated during the first year…

In the 1990s, numerous primary and secondary schools in China began experimental exploration and research on the implementation of school development planning (SDP). However, there has been a lack of self-criticism and reflection on the actual implementation situations and changes in SDP's concepts in the participating schools. This study assessed…

The system of higher education in Russia remains isolated from the world system of education in terms of its pedagogical standards and practices and in terms of current views of the postmodern individual and society. The system in Russia is not oriented toward providing students with a good specialty that enjoys public recognition and is also well…

This article discusses the relationship between the newly identified learning guide and personal learning. It draws on recent research that has critically examined the role of the personal tutor in secondary schools and colleges. The similarity in the two roles is discussed, and findings that may assist learning guides to have the impact…

The College Board, NASSP and ASCA believe that the principal-counselor relationship is a dynamic and organic relationship that evolves over time in response to the ever-changing needs of a school. The goal of an effective principal-counselor relationship is to use the strength of the relationship to collaboratively lead school reform efforts to…

This document contains the Phase III report from the "What Works in Oklahoma Schools" study. As opposed to describing the findings from the study that was conducted, it provides a tool-kit that can be used by Oklahoma principals and teachers to determine the best courses of action for their schools and classrooms. The tools provided in…