Declaring that a "national emergency" exists in American education, the author outlines "Action for Excellence" recommendations developed by the Task Force on Education for Economic Growth, of which he was chairman, and discusses accomplishments in educational reform in the state of North Carolina, where he is governor. (JBM)

The primary goal of the American Federation of Teachers' (AFT) Redesigning Schools to Raise Achievement (RSRA) project is to build capacity at the state, district, school, and classroom levels to improve student achievement to meet the goals of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. This checklist highlights some of the opportunities and support…

The major challenge that school districts face is to improve the learning of all students, not just in individual schools, but across the entire system of schools. Duval County, Florida has embarked on a remarkable journey to implement standards-based reform in schools throughout the district with the intent to systematically improve teaching and…

The State Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education are about to publish letter grades for each of the state's 4,015 public elementary, middle and high schools. These grades are part of "Education Yes!", Michigan's new school accreditation system. The familiar ABCD/F grades of their youth will provide parents and the…

Educators and policymakers have accomplished much over the past decade, aided by parents and taxpayers. California has set a high bar for what all children are expected to learn, from kindergarten forward. Instructional materials and tests are now closely aligned, so that teachers know how to gauge their students' progress. And achievement growth…

How can all students be provided with a first-class education with all the obstacles and challenges faced by today's schools? Based on his experiences growing up in the Mississippi Delta during the era of segregation, Clifton Taulbert shares time-honored principles that can transform the lives of the teachers, students, administrators, and staff…

Barriers to learning and teaching interfere with students' ability to participate effectively and benefit fully from classroom instruction and other educational activities. For school improvement efforts to succeed in ways that truly improve student achievement and student test scores, systemic changes must be made in how schools provide learning…

This report is based on a three-year study of the design of New York's Regional Network Strategy and its subsequent implementation activities, including the development of statewide professional development for members of the network involved in the state's strategy. The study is based on the idea that internal coherence--alignment and shared…

Stepping Stones to Literacy is a tool for elementary school improvement teams to evaluate and strengthen their reading programs. Each Stepping Stone is a guided activity to stimulate reflection and guide systematic inquiry. It is a collaborative, active research approach to evaluation (Levesque & Hinton 2001). The goal is to eliminate the gap…

Disputing the claim that improved student learning requires stronger academic standards and stiffer tests, the authors of this book contend that effective state reform depends on coherence in policy and practice, and opportunities for professional learning. It draws on a study of a program in California that worked to improve mathematics teaching…

This publication summarizes the main conclusions of a national survey of 925 public school principals and 1,006 superintendents. The survey was intended to bring about a better understanding of the day-to-day realities school leaders face. The survey asked the principals and superintendents about their priorities, most pressing problems, and…

This report synthesizes the findings of four studies that focused on school districts as the center of focus for school-improvement efforts. The studies did not examine school systems that had been high performing for a long time; rather, they took their data from districts serving high percentages of students who typically struggle but were…

Learning and training in school-based new apprenticeships (SBNAs) in Australia were examined through a survey of school-based new apprentices in Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia. Of the 2,330 questionnaires sent, 641 (27.5%) were completed. Compared with their counterparts, students undertaking SBNAs were more likely to be living outside…

Advocating an early childhood education structure that is state-supported, accountable for high standards, sufficiently funded to include all children who need it and whose parents want it, and comparable to the systems of other high-achieving industrialized nations, this report provides baseline information about U.S. states' provision of early…

Undertakings to improve teacher education in Poland have taken on these three main directions, with quality as the priority: (1) a system for accrediting higher schools (academic institution quality); (2) new regulator for standardizing the program of studies (program quality); and (3) system for teachers' progressive qualification and development…