This paper begins with a letter of thanks from future generations for the wisdom our generation has shown in initiating a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. It describes the overall goals of the Decade and focuses on the Action Plan being developed by UNESCO to guide its contributions as the international lead agency for the Decade.…

In this article, the author explores some of the issues about schools and communities, suggesting that schools need to be more strongly connected to their communities and, for this to happen, more systematic ways need to be developed of understanding the nature and complexity of those communities (which are often diverse and changing rapidly,…

Pedagogical change is posited as a crafting process constituted by the relational activity of social and material actors. A case study was used to investigate how pedagogical change becomes enacted in everyday practices in an independent boys' school in Australia. In comparison to a scripted implementation plan, the pedagogical change process was…

Important contributions have been made by counseling psychologists to K-12 education. It is now time to do even more. This article, focusing on comprehensive school guidance programs, suggests an agenda for action that involves counseling psychologists' becoming more fully informed about what is already happening in schools; helping improve…

Teacher leadership has been shackled by archaic definitions of leadership and timeworn assumptions about who can lead. Such ideas have situated leadership in the hands of a few formal leaders. Teachers have not seen themselves reflected in these prevailing notions, nor invited into the process. This article argues that a new definition of…

Drawing on forty years of distinguished service in delinquency prevention, John Calhoun, founder of the National Crime Prevention Council, lays out the essential ingredients for preventing violence. These include strategies for connecting with alienated youth, building community norms of caring, reducing access of weapons of violence, and claiming…

Schools across the country are pressured to reform by federal and state mandates. Because resistance is a major factor in reform failure, it is crucial for principals to discover why teachers resist change. This article explores the leadership and organizational change literature regarding some common barriers to change. Research-based strategies…

A high-achieving district discovers some have been left behind, but teachers find a new way of working that helps more students succeed.

Recognizing the glaring discrepancies in outcomes for many poor and minority children, the New York State Regents hosted an Education Summit in November 2005 with the theme of Closing the Achievement Gap. Leaders in business, government and education were in attendance and rallied to more thoroughly understand the achievement gap and produce…

Introduction: Website accessibility is a problem that affects millions of people with disabilities. While most current accessibility initiatives target government or commercial sites, a growing segment of online content is being created by non-professionals. This content is often inaccessible to users with disabilities. Everyday inclusive Web…

Communities of Practice offer state agency personnel a promising approach for engaging stakeholder groups in collaboratively solving complex and often persistent problems in special education. Communities of Practice can help state agency personnel drive strategy, solve problems, promote the spread of best practices, develop members' professional…

Over the last two decades, there has been a surge in public policies seeking to give low-income families more choice about where to send their children to school. These changes in policy have both reflected and accommodated an influx of new educational providers, including school operators, technology firms, back-office service providers, tutors,…

A recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that high-skill jobs that require advanced learning will make up almost half of all job growth in the United States by 2014. Present trends indicate that there will be a dearth of adequately educated workers to fill these new jobs: as a result of changing demographics, rising costs and…

Engaging young people as partners in community change is a compelling idea, but translating that idea into effective practice requires focused attention to a range of issues. The principles described in this paper emerged from the commingling of research and practice that occurred when the Forum for Youth Investment merged with Community IMPACT!…

The set of two case studies examines the supports for instructional improvement in two school districts through the experience of individual teachers who are trying to change their practice in accordance with the district's reform work. Our overarching research question for these case studies was: What supports this teacher in changing his or her…