The notion that everyone who is impacted by a crime has an investment in the process of how the offender is dealt with is gaining acceptance in diverse contexts around the world. This notion, called restorative justice, is an approach that brings together the offender and individuals impacted by the offender's behavior in a problem-solving process…

New regulations attached to ARRA funding of federal School Improvement Fund grants aimed at producing rapid turnaround of low performing schools were highly criticized as unsuitable for rural schools. This mixed-methods study looked at the implementation of the School Improvement Fund Transformation Model in two rural Maine high schools during the…

The following document represents a Problem Based Learning Project (PBL) around the central theme of school improvement, the components of school improvement, and the importance of the presence and interaction of five central components of school improvement. Five central components, or constructs, identified and selected from a breadth of…

In pursuit of enhanced employability of university graduates, along with their increased mobility in a rapidly globalizing economy, colleges and universities in the world today participate in regional alliances and partnerships in which shared targets with mutually recognized degrees and curricula are sought across boundaries through transnational…

Researchers from MDRC and Johns Hopkins University partnered with Florida's Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) in 2009 to launch an independent evaluation of the district's initiative to implement Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs) in every district high school. An NGA is a self-contained learning community for ninth-graders that operates as a school…

State education agencies (SEAs) are under fire and face new expectations from all sides. The federal government, state legislatures and governors, and citizens themselves are calling upon the SEA to do "more"--more to improve outcomes for students, more to close the achievement gap, and more to meet the diverse instructional needs of students.…

The low level of mathematics performance of U.S. students in relation to national standards and in international comparisons has concerned educators and policy makers for many years. The authors' primary goals were to design a feasible and usable intervention and gather data on the promise of the intervention to foster students' conceptual…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that community partnerships could have on school climate and, ultimately, student achievement. Specifically, community partnerships that were formed through the PENCIL (Public Education Needs Community Involvement and Leadership) Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee were researched to determine…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that community partnerships could have on school climate and, ultimately, student achievement. Specifically, community partnerships that were formed through the PENCIL (Public Education Needs Community Involvement and Leadership) Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee were researched to determine…

This dissertation evaluated the implementation of professional learning communities in a large suburban school district in North Carolina. The presence of shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application, shared personal practice, supportive conditions for relationships, and supportive conditions for…

Although a limited body of research has supported the positive impact of the Tools of the Mind curriculum on the development of self-regulation, research supporting a direct relationship between Tools and academic achievement is extremely limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tools of the Mind curriculum…

The Common Core State Standards, adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, raise the bar for what students need to learn at each stage of their K-12 education. The goal is to better prepare students for college and careers. The most important thing that education leaders can do to help the Common Core succeed is to support teachers in…

The "Alliance for Excellent Education" presents this Fact Sheet of answers to key questions raised surrounding implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Questions raised include: (1) What Are the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)?; (2) How Were the CCSS Developed?; (3) How Were the CCSS Adopted?; (4) What Changes in Instruction…

In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) hosted a Forum, Emphasizing Evidence-Based Programs for Children and Youth, to convene the nation's leading practitioners and researchers with experience using and evaluating an array of evidence-based…

This study investigated the application of ICT (information and communication technology) in the management of universities in the north-central Nigeria. The study was a descriptive survey. The population of the study comprised 1,294 respondents in federal and state universities (763 in federal and 531 in state universities). The sample size…