No one could have anticipated the devastating results of the political, legal, and economic events occurring in California after the year 2000 and producing stiff competition for education dollars. Community colleges were among the hardest hit by state budget deficits, with over $100 million cut from an already conservative budget. Since…

This document contains Illinois Occupational Skill Standards for occupations in the Information Technology Operate Cluster (help desk support, computer maintenance and technical support technician, systems operator, application and computer support specialist, systems administrator, network administrator, and database administrator). The skill…

This book for teachers and administrators demonstrates how implementing contextual teaching and learning (CTL) at all levels can change students' lives and help them realize their full potential and achieve academic excellence. CTL is based on the philosophy that students learn when they see meaning in academic material, and they see meaning in…

The Ohio Department of Public Schools launched its Ohio Urban Schools Initiative as a commitment to systemic long-term change in the state's 24 urban districts. This report contains a framework that represents the initial phase of the Urban Schools Initiative, which developed into a collaborative effort among the school systems, state and local…

A knowledge base on influences on student learning is emerging from a study that analyzed the contents of 179 handbook chapters and reviews, compiled 91 research syntheses, and surveyed 61 educational researchers. This analysis presents results of the research by using a 28-category conceptual framework based on models of schooling that influenced…

Student mobility (students moving from one school to another for reasons other than being promoted to the next school level) is widespread in the United States. This Spanish-language Digest examines the research on the academic consequences of mobility for elementary school students and discusses what schools and parents can do to mitigate the…

On the weekend of February 3-6, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois hosted the 2005 National Conference of Black Physics Students, marking the 19th consecutive year that the Conference has provided African American physics students with the unique opportunity to meet and network with counterparts from all across…

Ensuring that language tests for adult English language learners are appropriate, valid, and reliable is a challenge. Performance-based assessments are complex to develop and implement. Yet, because the focus of assessment, both in the National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS) descriptors and in the Department of Education's definition…

In addition to being one of the largest states in the country, California is also known for innovation and change. Reform in California often presages change throughout the country. The views of California teachers are, therefore, of special Significance to policymakers. This survey examines the 1985 views of California teachers for strengthening…

This report, the second in a series published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, examines states' progress in meeting the new federal requirement that by the end of the 2005-2006 school year there will be a "highly qualified teacher" in every classroom in the nation. This new requirement has led to some discomfort in more than a…

Schools that become part of the "Making Middle Grades Work" network are expected to use the middle grades comprehensive improvement framework to show progress in changing school and classroom practices in ways that advance student achievement. True school reform is not a quick process. It is a continuous effort to make purposeful and planned…

This report reviews 75 high schools in the "High Schools that Work" (HSTW) network that made statistically significant gains in at least two of three areas reading, mathematics and science--between 2002 and 2004 on the "HSTW" Assessments. In these schools, all groups of students improved achievement--regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic…

Children's exposure to family violence may lead to increased school difficulties, as shown in studies demonstrating the relationship between children's adjustment disorders and stressful family events. To examine the unique effects of violence on children's cognition, this study compared the academic performance and conflict levels of two groups…

A study evaluated the Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing Program. The comprehensive evaluation examined the background literature, the psychometric characteristics, and the impact of the writing assessment both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results indicated that: (1) the majority of fifth- and seventh-grade students in Alabama do not…

This study examined the effects of course level, class size, and instructor gender on student ratings of teacher performance at the National Hualien Teachers College in Taiwan. A total of 9,843 usable evaluation forms were completed for 440 courses (96 freshmen-level, 142 sophomore-level, 119 junior-level, and 83 senior-level) taught by 132…