The student teaching segment of the university curriculum frequently receives no review or evaluation--a discussion during the final seminar of students' personal experiences during student teaching would help to correct this situation. (MB)

"Making the Grade: How Boards Can Ensure Academic Quality" fills a significant void in today's boardroom discussions with its clear, realistic advice and its "perfect pitch" balancing act with respect to board involvement with the heart of the academic enterprise: teaching and learning. NCHEMS vice president Peter Ewell clarifies the grey areas of…

Research increasingly points to the relationship between effective leadership and increased student achievement. But just what constitutes effective leadership-and how to best support school leaders-has been a matter of both study and speculation. This policy brief draws on McREL's leadership research and an analysis of the needs in McREL's…

The research project describes a Providence-based non-profit organization called the Big Picture Company (BP), and its efforts to replicate its small high school design in multiple communities throughout the United States (with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). It refers implicitly also to BP's ambition (and that of the Gates…

Individuals and organizations are usually so immersed in day-to-day task completion that it is impossible to step back and scan the environment to determine (a) what work is crucial, (b) quality of current and past work, and (c) how the work contributes to larger organizational priorities. This focus on "just keeping up" with what must get done…

The political tradition of local school governance predates the existence of the United States. Yet the most prominent mechanisms for the exercise of local discretion have evolved considerably from their colonial origins in response to the changing political climate of the nation, constituent demands, and legislative innovation. Recognizing the…

This study investigated the relationships between: (1) two dimensions of adult literacy instruction; and (2) change in the literacy practices of adult literacy students. The two instructional dimensions investigated were: (1) degree of authenticity of the activities and texts employed in the literacy class; and (2) degree of teacher/student…

"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 State of the States Roundup: State Governors Address High School Reform and College Preparation; and (2) "Big…

This book explores how teacher leadership is an intrinsic and important part of school and classroom improvement. It investigates teacher leadership in action and considers the roles, responsibilities and influence of teachers who lead. It considers the implications of teacher leadership for teachers' professional development and focuses on ways…

The present condition of rural education in the western region of China is not optimistic. Existing problems include lacking education investment, poor school-running conditions, simplified running pattern and laggard concept of education. The countermeasures are: firstly, governments at all level especially the center one should increase input to…

Developmental assets are a research-based list of the essential building blocks of healthy youth development and comprise the relationships, experiences, and values that youth need to grow up caring, confident, and responsible. In November, 2001, Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY) convened a group of educators, students, and family advocates from the…

Partners in Quality is a research and development project sponsored by the Canadian Child Care Federation and its affiliates to explore how child care providers, parents, and other partners can work together to support and improve quality in child care. This booklet, in both English and French, supplements a series to support child care providers…

Increasingly, third parties are working with schools and providing a coach (a skilled educator external to a school) who helps to facilitate reform. This paper explores some of the complexities of coaching by presenting a case study of a coach in her first year of facilitating math and science reform in a pseudonymous middle school in a Boston…

The existing housing crisis for Philadelphia's low income families has been exacerbated by a decrease in the real income of these families over the past 10 years, a shortage of affordable housing during the same period, and the deterioration of much of the existing housing stock. "Watching Out for Children in Changing Times," a joint…

At the request of students and the Board of Trustees, the Connecticut Community Colleges began a system to develop a common course number system. The reasons for creating a common course number system include: (1) it simplifies comparisons between colleges in the system; (2) it facilitates course comparisons, easing the transcript evaluation…