This article identifies critical components of effective school-based feeding improvement programs for students with feeding problems. A distinction is made between typical school-based feeding management and feeding improvement programs, where feeding, independent functioning, and mealtime behaviors are the focus of therapeutic strategies.…

Objective: The authors describe a faculty practice plan that assigns a monetary value to various educational and research activities. Methods: Four years experience in the implementation of the plan are reported. Results: During this four-year period, the total dollar value of grants increased 319.6% from $9,175,495 in 1998-99 to $38,762,499 in…

The purpose of this article is to report the outcomes of literacy instruction used by special education students in a federally funded master's degree program known as Project LEAD: Leadership for Educators Amid Diversity. Participants in the project reported specific projects completed, new methods used in their classrooms, and additional…

Jail crowding is a substantial concern for many local jurisdictions. Although several authors have suggested a system-wide approach to reduce crowding, relatively little is known about how top local criminal justice officials view this issue. Using interviews and surveys of criminal justice leaders in a large southern metropolitan county, this…

Technology education is being taught today in almost every high school and middle school in America. Over 1000 technology education departments are now including pre-engineering education in their programs. According to these authors, the time has come for the profession to agree that including pre-engineering education in technology education…

High school improvement initiatives often focus on specific intervention strategies, programs, or priority topics (e.g., dropout intervention). However, research shows that systemic and sustainable improvement can only be achieved when initiatives are implemented with consideration for the broader education contexts in which they operate. The…

The "2011 Superintendent's Briefing Book" provides comprehensive yet concise overviews of the best thinking available on a wide range of top-priority PreK-12 education concerns. This resource will prove invaluable in making research-based decisions with confidence, and in identifying programs and practices that will improve student achievement.…

Since the publication of McREL's "2003 Annual Report," McREL staff members wrote more than 100 published articles in practitioner and peer-reviewed journals describing what they know from four decades of research on effective schools as well as years of practical experience working to help educators raise student performance: that…

The goal of college preparation programs is to help students, particularly underrepresented students of color, to enroll and succeed in college. While many programs focus on strengthening students' math and reading skills, familiarizing them with college entrance exams, and demystifying the college admissions process, there are few guidelines for…

How many people reading this brief believes they could financially survive in a household of four people on $19,784 a year? Yet, this was the official poverty threshold as determined by the federal government for 2005. During this same year, 17% of children under 18 lived below the poverty line, of which 14% were white, 11% Asian, 28% Hispanic and…

Science enrichment programmes housed outside traditional school settings offer unique opportunities to access and use authentic scientific tools and practices, especially for urban students whose school science experiences often lack resources. Yet opportunities to access these tools and practices are realized only when science teachers value them…

Secondary teachers increasingly face student differences in ability, background, socioeconomic status, and language. One method designed to prepare future teachers for dealing with these challenges is the teacher work sample (TWS), which has been widely adopted by colleges of education as part of performance-based accreditation requirements. A…

The aim of this article is to promote discussion and professional development around the topic of learning difficulties in mathematics, particularly as these pertain to teaching and learning in the middle school years. The article has three sections. In the first section, a review of literature about learning difficulties (LD) in mathematics is…

With the evidence that improved leadership in schools produces increased student learning and with the accountability demands of No Child Left Behind and the Missouri School Improvement Program, it is imperative that school leaders in Missouri be prepared to support student learning at its highest level. Therefore, Missouri has made a substantial…

One aim of student evaluation of instruction is the improvement of teaching quality, but there is little evidence that student assessment of instruction alone improves teaching. This study tried to improve the effects of evaluation by combining evaluation with individual counselling in an institutional development approach. Evaluation was…