The success of the Montgomery County Public Schools rests on a pervasive culture of high expectations and a commitment to the teachers and other staff. Too many reform efforts fail to engage and support the workforce. When the staff members are engaged, they will translate standards into something meaningful for each student.

After providing technical assistance to the federal Smaller Learning Community Program grantees, the authors developed five lessons for successful programs: 1) A strong vision of improved instruction needs to drive high school reorganization; 2) A strong vision of improved instruction focuses on strengthening the instructional core; 3)…

Music helps to bring out the best in young people. It nourishes self-esteem and keeps them engaged. The starting point for any good school program is the teacher, whether that program teaches English, math, science, history, arts--or music. So why is it that, at the elementary level, we have so many generalist classroom teachers--with no…

Principal turnover has the potential to impact seriously school morale and values as teachers attempt to adjust to new administrators and their possible shifts in focus. In an era of mandated school improvement, teachers in schools with new administrators have to deal not only with changes in district, state and/or provincial policies, but also…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Expectations for Assessment Reports: A Descriptive Analysis (Keston H. Fulcher, Matthew Swain, and Chris D. Orem); (2) Editor's Notes: A Surprising Reaction (Trudy W. Banta); (3) Getting SMART with Assessment: ACTION Steps to Institutional Effectiveness (Eric Daffron…

The accountability measures for student achievement have increased over the last five years for New York City Public Schools. In addition to existing local, state and federal accountability systems, yet another evaluative tool has been added--a "Progress Report". The report indicates a letter grade of "A" to "F" for a…

This is the first in a series of reports from the Center on International Education Benchmarking (CIEB) exploring the leading vocational and technical education systems from around the world to draw out what makes these systems great and what other countries can learn from them. This first report was based on a visit of several days to Singapore…

Is it time for Ohio to take bolder steps toward turning around its most troubled schools and districts? If so, what might the alternatives look like? Options for rebooting these troubled schools have come in the form of mayoral control, state takeovers, market competition through charter schools and other choice programs, as well as millions of…

During the past two decades, Chris Confer and Marco Ramirez have worked to deepen and improve mathematics instruction at schools around the country. Wherever they go, they find the raw ingredients for success already present: "The potential for positive change lies within each school. Abundance is present in the form of capable children,…

A leader doesn't have to solve every problem personally to be effective. In fact, helping others learn to resolve issues and implement their own solutions is the key to sustainable leadership and an empowered staff. This companion and follow-up book to "Coaching Conversations" brings the coaching style of leadership to life with stories from the…

The impact of education decentralization on high-quality education has been mixed at best. This can be attributed to a variety of factors including decentralization itself, ineffectual implementation, political-economic friction, and poor design. This paper focuses largely on the issue of design, contending that if governments or donors aim to…

Over 20 years ago, Robert J. Barak and Barbara E. Breier suggested incorporating a regular assessment of the entire program review system into the review schedule in order to ensure that the system itself is as efficient and effective as the programs under review. Barak and Breier's seminal book on the goals and processes of program review has…

This study advanced the research by Michael, Schwartz, and Balraj (2001) and McGoey (2005), which examined how trustees and other internal key stakeholders (respectively) from institutions of higher education in the state of Ohio perceived indicators of presidential effectiveness. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the perceived…

This brief provides district and other educational leaders with research-based information on aligning professional development policies with teacher evaluations to drive more comprehensive human capital management. First, this brief describes an aligned evaluation and professional development system. Next, it discusses existing models and…

Since 2000, Maryland has provided state supplemental funds to Head Start and Early Head Start (EHS) programs to improve access. Local EHS programs may use funds, through child care partnerships, to extend the EHS day or year. Maryland's approach to building on EHS includes: (1) Increase the capacity of existing Head Start and EHS programs to…