A technical assistance project in a rural Virginia school district included the goal of building professional learning communities among the district's teachers. Three instruments that measure various elements of a learning community culture were scheduled to be administered to teachers at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the 4-year project.…

During the 1990s, Virginia implemented statewide Standards of Learning, but several school districts did not have the capacity to meet these new content and performance standards. In 1996, a "high-need" rural Virginia school district was selected as a development site where elements of a technical assistance system to improve student…

This paper summarizes the first 2 years of a school improvement effort in a low-performing rural school district in southern Virginia that involved developing a balanced K-12 curriculum aligned with the state's standards of learning. Project evaluation focused on changes in the school environment and in teaching and learning that resulted from the…