This brief describes major challenges ahead for states, institutions, and most importantly, students as the standards and assessments from the Common Core Standards (CCSS) are implemented. It also offers recommendations to create a network structure that would assist K-12 and higher education leaders in addressing those challenges. To begin the…

This research explores the complex factors affecting the implementation of learning supports for students with disabilities or ongoing health conditions. It focuses on two types of learning support: (1) individualised reasonable adjustments; and (2) institution-level learning supports, the latter being available to all students. These supports can…

This publication outlines the fundamental principles and process of Strategic School Design. Through more than a decade of research and practice in the area of school resource use, we have found that high-performing schools are responding to the changing context in education by using people, time, technology, and money in ways that look…

Since the College Cost Reduction and Access Act ([CCRAA], 20 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.) was signed into law in September of 2007, the issue of college access for youth experiencing homelessness has garnered increased attention. Among other provisions, the CCRAA confers independent student status on unaccompanied homeless youth. This status allows…

This article identifies some critical areas regarding teacher education that need to be addressed by any institution responsible for educating teachers. The authors outline some of the paradoxical pressures that constitute the context for this crisis in teacher education and specify the kinds of basic questions that need systematic answers in…

Every student experiences feedback in different ways, and there is a real trick to knowing when no feedback is needed. Feedback of any kind can sometimes paralyze a student, interrupting the flow of his or her work. Teachers need to understand and recognize when and why this happens. The author's sketch of three goals for giving feedback in this…

Images can be powerful tools for change, but without compelling images of the future of education, everyone will be forced to use the images of the past. Schools can't be built on old images: they must reflect current best practices that infuse technology, relationships, culturally responsive texts, and cooperation and collaboration with partners…

In the not-too-distant past, using surveys to gauge public opinion was a costly and time-consuming activity that districts generally had to outsource. Today, with the advent of online survey tools such as Survey Monkey and Zoomerang and an increasingly Internet-connected society, surveys have become a useful and accessible tool for school…

Literacy or instructional coaches are becoming increasingly important in schools at all grade levels (kindergarten through grade 12). Because this is a growing professional leadership role, there is a new excitement about possible improvements to literacy instruction and increases in student achievement that may result from having formalized,…

This white paper by ICF International's Caitlin Howley discusses commonalities and differences among various understandings of readiness and highlights conceptualizations of readiness for change in selected change models. How leaders can use such theories to best to prepare their organizations--and the people enlivening them--for new ways of…

The principle purpose of this mixed methods case study was to evaluate the extent to which a wholly online continuing theological education program operated by an Association of Theological Schools accredited seminary modeled best practices of online education, as exemplified by the findings of the "Quality On the Line" study and the…

The purpose of this quantitative action research study was to examine intervention specialists' self-reported knowledge about certain evidence-based practices, implementation of practices, and how intervention specialists are learning about these practices in educating students with autism. The population of this study included 49 intervention…

Usually band, orchestra, and choir directors work independently. However, the authors--one a choral director, the other a band director--have learned that making music together makes friends. Not only can ensemble directors get along, but joint concerts may be just the way to help students see how music can reach the heart. Combined instrumental…

One of the toughest battles a music teacher can fight is the battle to stay organized. Getting organized--and staying that way--is no easy task for a busy music educator. However, for the sake of music teachers' success in the classroom, and for their sanity, organization is crucial. The author has spoken with several educators about how they keep…

In the case of higher education, the hills are more like mountains of data that "we're accumulating at a ferocious rate," according to Gerry McCartney, CIO of Purdue University (Indiana). "Every higher education institution has this data, but it just sits there like gold in the ground," complains McCartney. Big Data and the new tools people are…