Finalists for the Broad Prize for Urban Education demonstrate that identifying strategies that fit the local context is essential in creating success for students. Long Beach Unified School District in California and Broward County Public Schools in Florida demonstrate how districts can use different strategies to achieve the same goals.

Stand still and look until you really see. These simple, but provocative, words were the theme of a 30-year-old environmental education program called the Environmental Studies Project. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the project was headed by an innovative educator, Bob Samples. Over the last three decades or so, these simple words…

Florida's Project CHILD (Computers Helping Instruction and Learning Development) is a computer-integrated instructional program for grades K-5. The project supplies teachers with training, specific strategies and supporting materials; teachers implement the program by following guidelines concerning classroom organization, implementation of…

According to newly released Third International Mathematics and Science Study data, American children may score low on international comparisons because teachers are trying to teach them too many topics. Surprisingly, Florida's minimum competency testing program has not increased low-achievers' dropout rate. A recent "American…