This article profiles Terry Grier, the new superintendent of Houston Independent School District. Grier, who began his career as a teacher and a coach in North Carolina, has run nine school districts in six states over the last 25 years. His allies and critics agree on one thing: Grier pushes change at lightning speed. That's the main reason the…

Coaching occurs when one professional works closely with another professional to increase productivity or to meet a common outcome. For a coach or mentor to be successful, the teacher must believe in the expertise the coach espouses, and the coach must believe in the teacher's abilities. Through "reflective coaching," teachers and coaches…

Schools throughout the nation are hiring "coaches" and deploying them in schools in a multitude of ways that may not improve instruction and rarely impact student learning. But heeding the roles and relationships of coaches enhances the likelihood that they will be able to influence school culture, professional learning, and, ultimately, student…

When professional learning communities (PLCs) are developed to promote the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the results can benefit not only ELLs but the whole school. This article examines the ventures of three high schools that implemented PLCs as part of a Title III National Professional Development Project. The authors…

Launched in 2008, the Strategic Data Project, housed at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, seeks to bridge the divide between educational research and practice in order to transform the use of data in education to improve student achievement. Through the project, the authors build robust research partnerships with…

To learn more about states' experiences with implementing school improvement grants (SIGs) funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Center on Education Policy (CEP) administered a survey to state Title I directors. (Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides federal funds to schools in low-income…

Poverty in the US is growing at an alarming rate. The current economic climate demands higher education to embrace the economic diversity of all students and to prepare them, regardless of economic class, for a globally competitive workplace. Unfortunately, the higher education community is not as adept at serving low-income students, as it is…

In most parts of the world today, the goal of providing all children with free and Universal Primary Education (UPE) has received broad national and international support and some educational systems have evolved from predominantly "fee-charging" towards "fee-free" status in recent times. In Ghana, for example, the endorsement…

Most executives have not heard of human performance technology (HPT), but a recent Google search showed 25 times more Google hits for "lean six sigma" than for "human performance technology." This article describes five factors that make HPT a hard sell: (1) HPT is not part of standard business jargon, (2) organizational executives associate…

This study examined the average effects of schools' third through fifth grade gifted programming policy in mathematics and reading on overall school achievement, on gifted students' achievement and academic attitudes and on nongifted students' achievement and academic attitudes. Data and results represent a broad, national look at school…

Through this study the authors evaluate outcomes associated with the use of handheld computers by interventionists in improving the efficiency of direct systematic classroom observation. Information from observations is used by interventionists for treatment planning and evaluation. In this study, interventionists were trained to use personal…

The mission statement at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) commits the university to the pursuit of academic excellence and the promotion of environmental sustainability. One of the university's guiding principles recognises that "informed and engaged citizens are essential to the creation of a civil and sustainable society." The…

The Mississippi Gulf Coast community College (MGCCC) Leadership Development Program focuses on developing well-prepared community college leaders. This program is designed to give participants key pieces of leadership and show how they are an essential piece of the college. The curriculum is based on American Association of Community Colleges…

The purpose of the current study was to compare the delivery of varied versus constant high-, medium-, and low-preference stimuli on performance of 2 adults on a computer-based task in an analogue employment setting. For both participants, constant delivery of the high-preference stimulus produced the greatest increases in performance over…

In 2003 the Public Education Network developed the pilot Revitalizing High School Libraries (RHSL) initiative, funded by The New York Life Foundation. Based on the Library Power Program, it included many of the same features--collaborative planning, flexible scheduling, collection development, and facility renovation--with a focus on how this…