New Leaders is a nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure high academic achievement for all students by developing outstanding school leaders to serve in urban schools. Its premise is that a combination of preparation and improved working conditions for principals, especially greater autonomy, would lead to improved student outcomes. Its…

New Leaders is dedicated to promoting student achievement by developing outstanding school leaders to serve in urban schools. RAND Corporation researchers conducted a formative and summative external evaluation of the New Leaders program, its theory of action, and its implementation from 2006 through 2013. This document presents technical…

The flight of middle class families from the cities to the suburbs has left many cities hard pressed to continue services at former levels. Falling enrollments and revenues have led to mergers of city and county school districts or closures of city districts followed by county takeover. This report documents educators' experience of city-county…

Most school systems in Tennessee raise additional revenue for instructional and extracurricular activities through fund raising projects and voluntary student fee collections. Responses to a questionnaire by 129 principals (from a sample of 15) were analyzed to determine the extent, diversity, and results of fund raising activities and fee…

Investigated was the nature of science-technology-society (STS) education as perceived by science teachers. Reports that teachers indicated weaknesses of current STS education and wanted more workshops and curriculum materials. Provides recommendations to educational practitioners based on the findings. (YP)

The paper addresses issues concerned with increasing state interest in encouraging public institutions of higher education to demonstrate educational quality through outcomes assessment and reports on the development and implementation of Tennessee's program of performance funding. Emphasis is on guidelines contained within a 5-year performance…

A report of comprehensive efforts within Tennessee to determine the extent of support in individual schools, school systems, counties, and congressional districts is reported, including the simple formula used. Also described are some of the linguistic maps and statistical tables in the report and the possible applications for teachers in other…

A 1996 survey of state policymakers and public college representatives in states with performance funding (Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee) is presented. Although differences exist across states in a number of areas, findings challenge the assumption of an irreconcilable gap between…

This report presents the results of a study conducted with 449 Tennessee educators that investigated the use of educational technology in the state's classrooms. The Tennessee Education Association, as part of its Tennessee Teachers' Technology Initiative, funded in part by a grant from BellSouth, collaborated with the Appalachia Educational…

The report presents six papers describing a Tennessee study to assess the status of the supported employment initiative, determine the importance and implementation of best practice elements, and ascertain perceptions of supported employment customers toward implementation. Major findings include the following: at the time of the study supported…

With the objectives of assisting state educators in designing school leadership programs, school administrators in Tennessee were surveyed to determine levels of training and perceived training needs. Questionnaires were administered in 1986 to school board members, principals, and superintendents. Part 1 of the questionnaire dealt with…

This paper focuses on a community's educational improvement project in Tennessee that resulted from executive appointment of a citizen task force in each community. The paper reports project development and results; discussion emphasizes implications for school administrators. A joint task force, appointed in 1985, was directed to develop…