This book explores the necessity for building strong relationships among administrators, teachers, parents, and the community by applying what the book calls the five essentials of organizational excellence. The five essentials are planning strategically; benchmarking for excellence; leading collaboratively; engaging the community; and governing…

This report analyzes vocational/technical (VT) course taking among public high school graduates between 1982-98. It focuses on trends in VT course taking, introductory technology and computer-related coursetaking, and how students combine VT and academic course taking. The report examined high school transcripts for the graduating classes of 1982,…

This paper outlines how shared decision making among teacher education faculty, preK-12 educators, and the Science and Mathematics faculty at Wright State University successfully led to the preparation of quality educators. It offers a historical overview of the Wright State redesign efforts, then: examines the university's collaboration for…

This paper describes the University of South Carolina Professional Development School (PDS) Partnership Network. The first section examines initiation of a partnership for educational renewal, implementation of threshold conditions, institutionalization of the PDS, and the current period of transition as a new period of institutionalization has…

This document contains four symposium papers on measurement and research tools. "Income Effects of Human Resource Development for Higher Educated Professionals" (Martin Mulder, Bob Witziers) reports on a study of 1,876 higher-educated professionals that found no correlation between participation in human resource development activities and…

This study evaluated how teachers perceived their efforts to improve their teaching practices by participating in the Jacksonville Urban Educational Partnership (JUEP), a Professional Development School (PDS). The JUEP was designed to create sustained, high quality, professional development systems for inservice educators in three PDSs. The study…

Life is more complex than ever for adults in the 21st century as a result of technological advances; the changing nature of work, workplaces, and working relationships; international economic competition; the changing demographics of workers, families, and communities; and longer life spans. Learning to cope with all these changing…

CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) reviewed vocational education and training trends and innovations to promote "anticipation" in the way, tools, and instruments by which institutions and bodies cope with new challenges to education and training due to changing socioeconomic demands and requirements.…

The impact of research and development (R&D) on decision making and managers in vocational education and training (VET) was examined through a review of recent Australian studies in VET and health care. The framework adopted to analyze the relationships between R&D and decision making distinguished between the decision-making domain, the…

When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997, it authorized an evaluation to track progress at the state and local levels on the legislative goals of IDEA. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) commissioned a national longitudinal study, the Study of State and Local…

Increasingly, foundations are choosing to engage in public policy debates as a way of leveraging their investments and increasing their impact in advancing improvements community-wide, statewide or nationally. For foundations, influencing public policy decisions can happen in different ways: funding policy research and dissemination, building…

States are engaged in serious efforts to raise student achievement, paying particular attention to narrowing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students that has persisted in public schools for decades. The achievement gap is particularly troubling because, all too often, those at low achievement levels are minority, special…

In cities across the country, educators and civic leaders are taking on the challenge of transforming large, failing high schools where graduation rates have remained below 50 percent for many years. They are replacing these high schools with small schools that will prepare students in underserved urban communities to meet the high standards…

The governor of Colorado believes we cannot find solutions to today's problems because we are not asking the right questions. Questions dealing with the problems of resource management, energy, the elderly, economic development, immigration policy, medical policy, and political change are raised. (IS)

Characterizes many civic councils (a combination parent-teacher organization and school board) as bureaucratic and unproductive. Profiles a council governing a Moscow suburban school that has been innovative and effective. Discusses the financial and administrative initiatives developed in conjunction with the school principal. (MJP)