This report focuses squarely on strategies for instructional improvement in American high schools. Specifically, this study examines how high schools that perform below average incorporate their state's accountability goals into their own goals, identify their challenges, and search for strategies for instructional improvement. It focuses on how…

"EFF HOT (Highlights on Teaching Topics) Topics" is a publication of the EFF (Equipped for the Future) Center for Training and Technical Assistance. Each issue concentrates on a specific topic, highlighting examples of actual practice and offering strategies and tools for using EFF in the classroom. This issue of "HOT Topics"…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) A New Vision For NAEP: National Commission Recommends Mandatory NAEP Test for a Representative Sample of…

This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

U.S. high school students' lack of preparedness has serious implications for the economy and prosperity. For most of the nation's history, manufacturing workers with modest formal education could earn decent wages. For roughly 60 percent of the jobs in today's labor market, at least some postsecondary education is needed, and that percentage is…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is praiseworthy for the special attention it gives to improved learning for children who have been ignored or left behind in the past. The emphasis on closing the achievement gap is certainly commendable, as is the encouragement given to states to adopt ambitious subject matter standards and enhance teacher…

In recent years, the debate over teacher quality and preparation has gained new urgency. Competing groups of partisans have dominated this debate: one seemingly eager to assail the nation's education schools and to suggest that there is an insufficiently defined body of professional teaching knowledge, the other committed to advancing…

In order to achieve the EFA (Education For All) goal agreed by participating nations at the Dakar World Education Forum 2000, The Lao government has undertaken various studies for its "National Plan of Action for Education for All." Lao is an inland mountainous nation with 49 ethnic groups. Such diversity makes the provision of social…

The mission of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is to ensure that all students acquire the knowledge, skills and values necessary to live rich and fulfilling lives as responsible, productive and enlightened members of a democratic society. It is the vision of the District of Columbia School System that it will be known as one of the…

Financial incentives for teen parents are components of state welfare programs intended to encourage enrollment, attendance, and completion of high school as a means of increasing employment and earnings and reducing welfare dependence. The incentives take the form of bonuses and sanctions to the welfare grant related to school enrollment,…

These skill standards for the industrial maintenance general maintenance cluster are intended to be a guide to workforce preparation program providers in defining content for their programs and to employers to establish the skills and standards necessary for job acquisition. An introduction provides the Illinois perspective; Illinois Occupational…

This series of three brief articles, written by the Nebraska commissioner of education, addresses schools for the future. It proceeds with two assumptions: (1) all students can learn and can learn at much higher levels than they are now doing; and (2) schools should be ready and able to teach all kids. The first article addresses, generally, the…

The latest title in the popular Spotlight series, this timely book focuses on issues involving recruitment and retention of music teachers, a crucial issue in these days of budget constraints. Arranged chronologically, it features a collection of articles from state journals focusing on issues such as mentoring, teacher shortages, burnout, and…

Middle school educators face many challenges in today's education and political environment due to the focus on excellence as measured by achievement tests. This book discusses how middle schools can provide a strong standards-based academic program while, at the same time, remaining focused on the student-centered principles upon which the middle…

This book uses planning forms and examples to help media specialists and teachers focus on ways to effectively and purposefully add technology. The 22 collaborations connect with standards-based education in language arts, math, science, and social studies. Ideas for whole-class projects are also included. Each unit example begins with a completed…