Gender bias in textbooks (GBIT) is a low-profile education issue, given the 72,000,000 children who still have no access to schooling, but this article argues that GBIT is: (1) an important, (2) near-universal, (3) remarkably uniform, (4) quite persistent but (5) virtually invisible obstacle on the road to gender equality in education--an obstacle…

Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of 29 Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) models suggests that all 29 models are less cost-effective than an alternative approach for raising student achievement, involving rapid assessment systems that test students 2 to 5 times per week in math and reading and provide rapid feedback of the results to students and…

Can a capacity building policy encourage school leaders to engage in professional development that will increase their focus on student achievement and understanding of instructional leadership? To explore this issue, school administrators were interviewed and a content analysis of plans for professional development generated during the first year…

This article features several educators whose classroom, school, and district-wide projects offered this year's most inventive and successful examples of bringing technology-based learning to K-12 students. A middle school teacher used grant money to fund a weekly student news broadcast. A technology director created video booths to reveal to…

What scope is there for teachers to purposefully deviate from their routine classroom practice in order to respond to disengaging students? A case study of a small provincial school in Australia shows an example of alternative pedagogy used in response to a disengaged group of young adolescents. The students temporarily engaged with a different…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading of middle and high school students: (1) reading curricula; (2) mixed-method models (methods that combine large-and small-group instruction with computer activities); (3) computer-assisted instruction; and (4)…

Hawkeye Institute of Technology, Waterloo, Iowa, has developed a professional improvement program that provides instructors with sufficient time to upgrade their skills and knowledge while they continue to teach in their fields. (Author/MW)

A description is given of the development and implementation of an inservice program, "Project Excel," which was designed in accordance with andragogical theory. This theory is based upon four major assumptions: (1) as people grow, they become increasingly self-directed; (2) as people grow, a reservoir of experiences which provide a…

Data were obtained from Department of Defense (DOD) officials and installations having experience with gainsharing programs. (Gainsharing programs measure gains in employee productivity and share the resulting savings between employees and the organization.) Analysis of private sector studies on gainsharing efforts identified three major trends in…

The Louisiana Educational Employees Professional Improvement Program was designed to encourage continuing educational efforts by public school teachers. Participation in the program is voluntary and is open also to administrative staff, specialists, and other personnel for whom a valid certificate is required for employment. The current revised…

An emphasis on full staff involvement has been the focus of school improvement efforts at Beacon Hill Elementary School in Kelso, Washington. Following a process for improvement through the application of effective schooling research results in instructional programs, the school has involved staff in planning, goal setting, and extensive inservice…

This report summarizes a study that explored the relationships between efforts to improve schools, the definitions of effectiveness or success which drive those efforts, and how these are affected by the inner life, or cultures, of the schools. Three improving high schools were studied in an attempt to understand the deeply-held beliefs of the…

The gruesome fate of geriatric patients can be improved by teaching methods originally designed for children. (Editor)

This report reviews the 1980 activities of the Educational Dissemination Studies Program (EDSP), which is designed to (1) establish efficient means of communication for analyzing, monitoring, and communicating the status, needs, and accomplishments of educational dissemination performers; (2) increase the quality of and access to knowledge…

This resource notebook, the third of three developed within the framework of management review and analysis self-study procedures, focuses on library staff development. The introduction provides background and a brief conceptual overview of staff development. The first section of documents provides examples of data gathering tools and approaches…