Last year research was released that showed Chicago Public School (CPS) students had made faster academic gains than students in 96% of school districts in the United States. Also there was an increase of CPS students graduating from high school and going to college. In November 2017, the Joyce Foundation and the Spencer Foundation convened a…

This is the executive summary of the report, "Combining Researchers' and Practitioners' Intelligences for STEM Improvement: A Study of the Local Labs of the Research and Practice Collaboratory." The Research and Practice Collaboratory (RPC) supported projects in three states--California, Maine, and Washington--that had the function of…

The Research and Practice Collaboratory (RPC) supported projects in three states--California, Maine, and Washington--that had the function of serving as "Local Labs" for the RPC. While these labs worked independently on specific, local STEM improvement problems, RPC leaders held themselves to shared conjectures (cite) about their work…

Teacher collaboration holds great promise for improving educational outcomes. Education policies commonly seek to foster teacher collaboration to bring about improvements in teacher learning, instructional quality, and improved student outcomes. Collaborative approaches including professional learning communities (PLCs), grade level teams,…

To evaluate the extent to which California's school districts are engaging in continuous improvement, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) interviewed 41 educational leaders across the state. Three main ideas surfaced: (1) State data is insufficient for continuous improvement; (2) Some school districts are developing local data systems,…

Student learning outcomes assessment has been increasingly used in U.S. higher education institutions over the last 10 years, partly fueled by the recommendation from the Spellings Commission that institutions need to demonstrate more direct evidence of student learning. To respond to the Commission's call, various accountability initiatives have…

This chapter describes how peer learning support programs can be used to improve learning and success in gateway courses. It provides examples from two institutions to further illustrate how this promising approach can improve student outcomes.

In light of both social and ABET expectations, engineering educators need to consider how to effectively infuse engineering ethics education into current engineering curricula. This article describes our initial efforts in that realm. We considered how to improve ethics education in engineering through establishing an academic-industry…

Instructional leadership teams (ILTs) advance school improvement by building the capacity of school-based leaders to lead improvement work. The role of central office administrators, and particularly of principal supervisors, supporting the learning and development of ILTs, however, is relatively unknown. This mixed methods study explored the…

Rural education is a short board of China's education. It is of great significance to strengthen the construction of the teacher team in rural middle schools for Rural Revitalization in the new era. The problem of structural shortage of teachers, reflected by the phenomenon of "what biology teachers teach is not what they learned" in…

The standardization of compulsory education schools is an essential measure to promote education balance and improve education quality. However, when the implementation effect of this policy was evaluated, the improvement of input factors such as facilities and equipment, teaching faculty and funding were only focused on, but with less attention…

Background/Context: There is a body of evolving research on how educators use data for improvement, with many examples in the literature about how educators learn to use a routine of data-driven cycles of inquiry to make smart improvements to their practice. This article is not an alternative structure for engaging in cycles of inquiry, but rather…

This article presents two sequential case reports of how 60 schools in the London Borough of Camden used action research in three phases of development of their local school system reform, from a traditional council-led, top-down model of centrally based professional development and monitoring of schools, to one that is schools-led and 'bottom-up'…

The present study focuses on the exploration of the perceptions and experiences of school administrators (principals and vice-principals) and teachers regarding school improvement and influencing contextual factors. Designed as case study research, this study utilized data gathered from school principals, vice-principals, and teachers from various…

The current paper discusses the implementation and scaling of an early education program (Texas School Ready; TSR). Implementation and scaling of the TSR program were initially met with challenges such as participant/site recruitment, participant retention, and staff training. These 3 challenges are highlighted along with the ways in which…