This report provides a review of literature published in the past 2 decades on the role and effectiveness of school boards. Though school boards are but one component of school district leadership--the superintendent and other district administrators and staff constituting the other main components--school boards are the focus of this review…

This resource guide contains an annotated listing of high quality resources, including videotapes, books, curricula and other materials, that can be used to assist in developing a more diverse and better prepared workforce to serve infants, toddlers, children and families. It includes: (1) materials that can be used to recruit and support…

Providing a forum for current thought about the field of early education and care, this book reviews efforts worldwide to educate young children. The book examines child care quality, presents a cultural feminist perspective on caregiving, discusses curricular issues, and considers the role of play in early childhood practice. The chapters are:…

Designed for managers and workers in virtual organizations as well as adult and continuing educators in higher education, associations, and private sector, this book outlines a customer-driven performance management system and explains its use as a development tool. The characteristics of virtual organizations are described, and the rationale for…

This case study examines the history and current circumstances of education in Humphreys County (Mississippi) in the context of its participation in the Delta Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI), which aims to improve science and mathematics achievement through systemic reform. This report describes the county's history, demography, and economic…

"Adults Learning Languages" is aimed at those responsible for teaching languages across AE, FE and HE. In the much-changed world of post-19 languages, new funding and inspection regimes with revised needs for quality assurance are challenging practitioners to adapt and review approaches. This book offers teachers of languages to adults tools to…

Major points emphasized in this report include: (1) School improvement planning is not appropriately and effectively addressing barriers to learning; (2) Leaders for student/learning supports must mobilize and prepare student support personnel to become an integral and effective agent in school improvement planning and decision making; and (3) The…

The report describes a federally-funded project at Hunter College (New York) to develop an Internet and electronic mail-based resource for teachers of English as a Second Language (TESL). The program has three major components: (1) the TESL-L Electronic Discussion Forum, a list service operating on a simple e-mail program and offering teachers a…

Based on findings that poorer schools tend to use computers mainly for drill work, while richer ones often use them for other purposes, such as supporting research and creativity, this project aimed to increase the understanding of how to best support teachers in inner-city schools. The project worked intensively with teachers from two inner-city…

Teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are encouraged to conduct classroom research to (1) discover what happens when they teach and students try to learn, assess and improve teaching practices; monitor innovations in teaching, syllabus, or materials; and investigate problems in the classroom. Simple steps are outlined: developing a plan…

The International Seminar on Teacher Education for the 21st Century in Hiroshima explores innovative strategies to enhance the quality of teacher education in the Asia-Pacific Region. The goal of the seminar is to identify problems and issues related to teacher competencies at rural as well as urban schools in the region; the focus of the 1997…

Five issues of an adult basic education newsletter were developed and disseminated to more than 4,000 adult educators in Pennsylvania. The newsletters contained information appropriate to their professional development in a format and by a delivery method that would reach the large rural area of Pennsylvania and the large number of part-time adult…

A research study used trend analysis to examine case studies of 18 workplace literacy programs with a framework of good practice principles as a template to identify trends in practice. Each case study was examined using the nine components identified in the framework: program orientation, program evaluation, partnerships and participation,…

This final report discusses the activities of the Mississippi Early Education Program for Children with Multiple Disabilities, a program designed to train Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part H service coordinators and service providers to use family centered strategies. Two levels of training activities were implemented. The first…

Teachers' decisions about staying in a position are influenced by three classes of variables: employment, personal, and external. In a North Dakota study of the relationship between these variables and job retention in rural areas, 42 special education teachers and related service personnel who had left their positions in the past year (leavers)…