The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is renewing its commitment to the enhancement of literacy in the developing countries of the Commonwealth by establishing a program area focused on Literacy and Livelihoods. While the program activities will build on the work COL is already engaged in, they will also be informed through consultation with…

Effective schools research problems (unreliable descriptions and definitions, over-dependency on tests, research limited primarily to elementary schools) result in narrow formulas leading to increased standardization, neglect of nonacademic areas, and failure to improve in schools with high test scores. Author urges using broader, more complex…

Alaska has mounted an intensive statewide staff development effort to help teachers and administrators use research-based practices. Leadership teams from each school, with assistance from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, develop improvement plans and implementation strategies. Administrators, teachers, and school board members…

The evaluation design described was used to aid the governing board to reach a policy decision about expanding the California Early Childhood Education program (renamed the School Improvement Program) in the Lafayette School District. Descriptions of procedures, question formats, audiences involved, and results are included. (MH)

Faculty and student ratings of improvement, taken late in a semester, were more positive for faculty participants in a teaching improvement program than for nonparticipants. A follow-up study of program users after one or more semesters substantiated these results, with apparent and durable improvements observed. (Author)

This article describes three separate counseling programs that have been successfully implemented. The first concerns an innovative faculty advisor program at the high school level; the second concerns how one school surveyed counselors' use of time; and the third provides a plan for increasing guidance services at no extra cost. (HMV)

Describes the implementation of a student portfolio requirement at Boulder Canyon High School (Arizona) in 1999 as part of a focus on continual student improvement. Advocates the use of portfolios as a way to show incremental gains in academic areas and as a tool for encouraging student ownership in their own personal growth and improvement. (KP)

Describes the efforts of LaSalle-Peru High School (Illinois) to improve the teaching and learning climate by focusing on staff and student relationships. Specifically examines the work of the "Respect Committee," which focused on: (1) creating ways to demonstrate that members of the school care personally for one another; and (2) helping students…

Identifies challenges facing graduate library education and recommends ways to keep library programs from closing, including better defining the profession of librarianship and avoiding isolation by engaging in high-profile, universitywide relationships with other academic departments. Unique characteristics of librarians and librarianship are…

Describes a performance engineering model used to design an effective implementation system for a supervisory training program. Highlights include a discussion of management participation, an implementation planning matrix, a flow chart of the implementation process, and a form for field trainer follow-up. (LRW)

Survey forms were sent to 6,000 school board members who subscribe to "The American School Board Journal" in an attempt to discover what reform efforts are being utilized and which ones are working best in schools. A total of 1,347 readers (22.5%) responded. Curricular and instructional reforms were cited by 91% of the respondents, and 70% said…

The Manitoba School Improvement Program (MSIP) encourages Manitoba high schools to include students in their improvement projects. Through an array of action-oriented, student-centered initiatives, MSIP has come to a new understanding of "student voice" that encompasses various levels of students' engagement in both school improvement…

Reports on the Improving Education Quality Project in Uganda, which sought to improve primary education by using participatory action research to involve and empower teacher and community participants. Discusses the complexities and dilemmas of moving toward participatory ways within the context of Ugandan society, and how dialogue among all…

Considers strategies for the implementation of quality improvement in libraries. Highlights include structured quality improvement, especially Total Quality Management; organizational change; customer focus; continuous improvement; data-based decision making; systems thinking; employee involvement in decision making; diffusion of innovation;…

Family and community capacity building projects in Tasmania are attempting to address the disadvantage of communities marginalised by socio-economic and other influences. Collaborations between the projects, community members and groups, and education and training organisations, have resulted in a leadership process which has fostered reengagement…