The "Notes & Reflections" newsletter offers practical information--ideas, strategies, tools, and resources--about topics of special interest to professional developers who are working to improve school performance. Today, professional development services to schools are provided by variety of people: teacher leaders; principals; and district,…

The No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110) called for the U.S. Department of Education to carry out a national study of the effectiveness of educational technology. With computers becoming ubiquitous in American schools, and purchases of hardware and software now substantial expenses for school districts, whether funding is supporting effective…

Dual credit programs were first established in the 1970s, gradually gaining popularity in the 1980s, and expanding enormously through the 1990s. These programs are designed to allow high school students to begin college-level coursework and simultaneously earn high school and college credit. While the original intent was to provide more…

This guide for current and prospective adult educators is a comprehensive, practical conceptual framework for planning, designing/implementing, and evaluating/accounting for adult education programs. Chapter 1 describes the programming process. Chapter 2 describes 13 nationally recognized models of the adult education programming process, the…

This publication provides the General Requirements and Minimum Standards developed by the National Court Reporters Association's Council on Approved Student Education (CASE). They are the same for all court reporter education programs, whether an institution is applying for approval for the first time or for a new grant of approval. The first…

This paper argues that progressive pedagogy is a viable alternative to more limited basic skill approaches to school reform. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected during the fourth year of a 7-year multi-site school reform initiative in a besieged urban district, the paper documents ways in which teachers have dramatically altered…

This paper addresses two audiences--those who design education trend studies that simultaneously have longitudinal and intercohort implications, and the secondary analysts who use such trend data. Four study series conducted for the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provide material for the paper: the…

A graduate communications course in multimedia literacy uses a completely online environment to assemble faculty and curriculum resources normally unavailable in traditional classrooms. Guided by a teacher/coordinator, a librarian teaches information literacy by examining Internet copyright and fair use issues, ethics, and the evaluation of…

The Anne E. Casey Foundation (AECF) funded replications of effective jobs projects to achieve better job placement and retention for low-income, young adults. The six projects funded, collectively called the Jobs Initiative (JI), in Denver, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Seattle, and St. Louis, used an outcomes framework developed by The…

This final report discusses the activities and outcomes of the Self-Determination Synthesis Project (SDSP), a project designed to synthesize, corroborate, and communicate the professional knowledge base on the effects of self-determination and self-advocacy interventions for children and youth with disabilities. The SDSP used both quantitative and…

In order to facilitate the professional development of its student teachers, North Carolina has initiated a grant program that offers a number of grant opportunities. This paper describes how one of these grants was used in a special education classroom. The classroom consisted of 14 students with a wide range of handicapping conditions. The…

This report reviews what is known about alternative routes to certification (ARC) in special education. First, it defines ARC and discusses the confluence of factors that has hastened its growth and popularity, particularly in specialized, high-need areas such as special education. Factors cited include persistent shortages of qualified personnel,…

This document contains materials from a seminar on preparing youth with disabilities for postsecondary education and quality employment held at the National Capacity Building Institute in the summer of 2001. The agenda for the Institute is provided along with the following papers: (1) "Postsecondary Education Supports for Students with…

This book showcases some of the best digital library practices from organizations in the Asia Pacific. Particular emphasis has been placed on the design, use and usability of digital libraries. Not only are digital libraries examined, but related technologies, the management of knowledge in digital libraries, and the associated usability and…

This final report presents a study of 27 classes that participated in a school-to-work initiative that used systematic observation methods combined with teacher and administrative surveys to examine the construct validity of classroom practices related to the integration of academic and occupational curricula for secondary students with and…