"The Achiever" is published semi-monthly during the school year for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "New Policy that Helps States Better Assist Students with Disabilities"; (2) "The…

This booklet provides an introduction to project-based instruction, explaining the research-based rationale for using the approach and outlining how the approach can increase students' engagement and knowledge retention. It offers guidelines for planning and implementing projects and includes a checklist of important things to keep in mind when…

This document contains the papers on faculty development from the SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) 2001 conference. Topics covered include: a system of faculty development; a faculty development program for medical educators; developing a faculty of education technology integration plan; supporting the development…

This publication takes a look at lesson study both in its Japanese form and as it is being implemented in the United States. It contains the lesson study process, the rationale for using such an approach, and illustrates how teachers and administrators around the United States are taking the first steps toward adapting and implementing lesson…

This report presents the fifth in a series of polls that ask leaders in major U.S. urban public school systems about challenges they face and expectations for the future. The polls survey board members, superintendents, and other leadership staff. In January 2002, surveys were mailed to Great City School district leaders and senior staff and board…

To better understand how teacher candidates (student teachers) from Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) grow and develop from the start to the end of their student teaching semester, data provided through the Student Teacher Growth Record were analyzed. Student Teacher Growth Records, along with narrative reports provided by student…

This report considers six schools in two urban districts that made deliberate commitments to improve student performance in early language and literacy--each story is different, yet they all share an important insight: that a school and a model provider can work together to help every child learn to read. As the stories in the report demonstrate,…

Good teachers form the foundation of good schools, and improving teachers' skills and knowledge is one of the most important investments of time and money that local, state, and national leaders make in education. Yet with the wide variety of professional development options available, which methods have the most impact on student learning?…

A Nation at Risk, Goals 2000, and No Child Left Behind are examples of external factors that compel educational leaders at local schools and districts to explore reform initiatives in order to meet federally required results. Because of political mandates to improve student learning and instruction, educational leaders are searching for…

Like practitioners in other professional fields, educators must keep current with the emerging knowledge and must be prepared to use it to continually fine-tune their conceptual and craft skills. Is there a difference between the professional development training experienced by teachers verses the professional development provided to other…

For about two years the Rochester City School District has eliminated much of the teachers' mandatory staff development time. In years past students would be released almost an hour early once a week to create time for staff development. Due to such issues as low test scores, numerous retirements, and many newly adopted reform programs the city…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Senior Teaching Fellows Program, in which senior professors at the University of Georgia worked to improve instruction in lower division courses. A total of 24 senior faculty members participated in the program (eight in each of three years). The participating professors were…

Ways in which teachers and principals respond to changing leadership roles and some practical steps that principals can take to support leadership are discussed in this article review. It focuses on five papers that explore educators' roles, offering advice on how to respond to changing expectations. "When is New: A Plan of Action" (A. W. Hart)…

This final report describes a project of the City University of New York's Faculty Advancement Program (FAP) to encourage dissertation completion by ABD (all but dissertation) faculty at seven institutions in four northeastern states. The institutions were visited and revisited by FAP mentors in the effort to establish dissertation completion…

This package features videotapes and a study guide that are designed to help teachers revisit the operations of addition and subtraction and consider how students can develop meaningful approaches to these operations. The study guides' sessions are on addition, subtraction, the teacher's role, and goals for students and teachers. The readings in…