To address the growing demand for high-quality child care, many communities are seeking to develop specialized child care facilities funds to build new, and improve the quality of existing, child care programs. This toolkit is designed for policymakers, nonprofit leaders, child care providers, and others interested in increasing access to…

There are lessons to be learned from the reform initiatives that states, school districts, and schools have undertaken to date. To investigate these lessons, a collaborative 3-phase study was undertaken in 1998-2000 by a group of researchers associated with the 10 regional educational laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In the…

This paper examines some of the difficulties faced by high schools in the United States. It outlines seven elements underlying the problems: mission confusion, the need for remediation, too large a scale, pupil motivation, obsolete notions of teaching and learning, the failure to stay abreast of issues confronting today's youth, and the…

This booklet presents the action plan developed by the Southern Regional Task Force on Child Care for improving the quality of early care and education (ECE) in southern states. Also included in the booklet are tables that represent data collected from 16 participating states and the District of Columbia on state child care quality standards and…

This document was developed by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) National Network to improve understanding about how valuable effective technology transfer is to the fields of substance abuse treatment and prevention. Technology transfer involves creating a mechanism by which a desired change is accepted, incorporated, and reinforced…

Because sleep disturbances are common in childhood, almost every parent will have to deal with a child's sleeptime problems at some point. This guide offers information on sleep in children from birth through adolescence. The book answers common questions from parents, and provides advice on preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, getting infants…

This publication offers an overview of a series of roundtables organized in Colorado, North Dakota, and Missouri. The purpose of the roundtables was to further the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program by bringing together educators in similar stages of reform. In each case the roundtable was the first time that the state had…

This document reviews the relevant education literature to assess the evidence that reform strategies, such as those being used in New American High Schools, have affected educational outcomes, including school attendance, grades, skills attainment, graduation rates, and postgraduation activities. The overview focuses on 10 strategies: (1) raise…

This booklet is part of a series that was designed to serve as a resource for high school leaders. The volume focuses on the education leader's role in change and contains practical strategies, procedures, and ideas to enable school leaders to plan and implement programs that will help students. It highlights the findings in the National…

This booklet is part of a series developed by the National Alliance of High Schools Advisory Council to serve as a resource for high school leaders. It targets specific changes for high school curricula and examines three elements of curriculum design: content, skills, and assessment, and how they can be upgraded for high school students. The…

This technical assistance document addresses sustainability as a systemic change process in the context of school-community connections. Part 1 reviews what sustainability means. Part 2 includes a set of tools and aids for sustainability, emphasizing processes that will mobilize partners and develop effective mechanisms for system change. Part 3…

This report provides information on child care in southeastern Pennsylvania, discussing what is available and affordable for working families as well as current efforts to improve child care quality. Specific areas discussed in the report include why high-quality child care matters, types of child care, regulation, how families pay for child care,…

In 1999, the Southern Regional Task Force on Child Care, comprised of appointees from 16 southern states including Oklahoma and the mayor of the District of Columbia, with additional appointees from the other agencies, was formed with the charge of developing a plan to improve access to child care assistance for low-income families in the southern…

Not much research has been done on the factors that affect schools' willingness to undertake school-improvement efforts with the assistance of outside organizations. To address this lack, staff of the Quest project at AEL, Inc. conducted a multi-method exploratory study of issues considered significant to schools' engagement with reform. Focus…

This paper describes how one university developed a program portfolio, which provides a means for integrating previous strategic initiatives. Step one involved identifying the need for information as different institutional changes were implemented. Over 4 years, the university: launched a comprehensive strategic growth plan; designed and…