In these days where "accountability" is the byword, organizations more and more frequently seek to evaluate their programs. They often hire outside evaluators to help them assess the effectiveness of their programs, to find out what works and what doesn't, and to determine what programmatic changes would be beneficial. ActKnowledge, a…

This paper is aimed at readers who are committed to new ways of designing supportive learning environments that individually adapt to how students want to learn. Its premise is supported by the need for society to acknowledge the diversity of the population and to shift the paradigm from school reform restricted by concrete structures to learning…

This brief focuses on a vital aspect of efficacy known as "collective teacher efficacy" (CTE). CTE refers to the perceptions of teachers that the efforts of the faculty as a whole will have a positive effect on students. Principals and district leaders should turn their attention to improving CTE because it has an impressive list of positive…

This research project aims to highlight the need for effective leadership mechanisms to be put in place for the management of a successful inclusive program in the Primary School System in Barbados. The outcomes of the research findings show evidence of the need for strong instructional leadership by the principals in order to implement workable…

Efforts to make substantial and substantive improvements related to mental health in schools and student/learning supports requires much more than implementing a few demonstrations. Improved approaches are only as good as a school district's ability to develop and institutionalize them equitably in all its schools. This process often is called…

The concept of a United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) has its roots in the Asia-Pacific. Arguably, so far, more countries within the Asia-Pacific have engaged in advancing the DESD agenda than any other region in the world. This paper focuses on regional, sub-regional and national efforts to promote learning for…

The primary purpose of this article is to (a) discuss recent activities of and changes in "The Journal of Negro Education" (JNE) during my tenure as Editor-in-Chief (July 1, 2004 to the present), (b) highlight the current status and legacy of The Journal and its importance as an archive for research and education, and (c) discuss current issues,…

Sooner Xpress service arose out of a need to improve and expand services for library users at the University of Oklahoma. After several years of service for our distance education students, a decision was made to expand those services to include all campus and local users in an effort to streamline retrieval services in the library. Both…

Graduate and professional school students face a variety of academic integrity issues and are sometimes academically dishonest. The author surveys the literature of the last decade on graduate student academic integrity, including plagiarism, cheating, falsification, and authorship conflicts, focusing on empirical studies in multiple disciplines,…

This article is written from the perspective of a department chair who recognizes that there are often significant barriers within the department to changing the curriculum. This article makes the case that changes are needed and suggests actions that can be the catalyst for change.

Child welfare systems throughout the United States are being closely scrutinized as sensational cases appear in the media in nearly every state. At the federal level, with the Child and Family Service Review process, the government is documenting that states across the country are not conforming to federal child welfare requirements (DHHS, 2007)…

This article talks about Mission High School located in San Francisco, where majority of its students come from two of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. The entrance of the historic Mission High School is reminiscent of the grand entryways in elite colleges and universities. The irony of Mission's architecturally pleasing edifice is that for…

After a period of top-down control under the mayor, the New York City system is freeing schools to run their own affairs--and holding them accountable for results. This fall, for the first time, each of the district's 1,456 public schools gained unprecedented control over budgetary and instructional decisions that previously resided with the…

This article provides a case study template for creating and "selling" an enterprise-wide leadership development initiative in a highly decentralized organization. Using a story-telling approach, the authors delineate the five separate but highly interdependent stages used to achieve this. Sandwiched between a prologue and epilogue are five…

In the last few years, a number of states, education associations, and universities have launched new programs to build up the cadre of school turnaround specialists. These programs are often modeled on the experiences of consultants in the corporate world. This article discusses the advantages of using turnaround specialists and describes the…