Across the country, some 78 million baby boomers are closing in on retirement age. While some are considering second careers--in teaching or health care, for instance--others are staying active and involved through volunteering and community service. Recognizing the tremendous opportunity this population holds in terms of experience, skills, and…

Communities face powerful challenges--a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy--that require powerful solutions. In a climate of increasingly constrained resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant,…

When Arthur Stellar came to Massachusetts' Taunton Public Schools in 2005, he knew that part of his job as superintendent would be cost cutting. That's no easy task without sacrificing the quality of education the district provided. How to decrease what you spend without eliminating vital resources? One way, Stellar says, is to assess what you're…

High-quality youth arts programs that take place outside the formal education system play a vital role in supporting the developmental needs and well-being of today's youth, particularly youth at risk of negative outcomes. Out-of-school time (OST) youth arts programs provide opportunities for youth to learn about themselves and their world while…

The National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) has a mission to build district and school capacity to implement intensive intervention that will improve reading, mathematics, and behavioral outcomes for students with disabilities in Grades K-12 who have severe and persistent learning and/or behavioral problems. The purpose of this document…

It has been nearly 400 years since Harvard College was created, and since then, thousands of colleges and universities have been built across the United States. From the classically inspired lines of Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia to the Spanish architecture at Stanford University, every campus has its own personality. It's not unusual,…

When the author became president of Wheelock College in Boston in 2004, she asked the trustees and the entire campus community to engage in an innovative strategic planning and visioning process. The goal was to achieve consensus on a strategic vision for the future of Wheelock College by the end of her first year. This article discusses how…

Realizing they shared a common and growing need for information technology consulting services, new administrative systems, and interrelated instructional technology growth at their respective institutions, two colleges in Massachusetts joined forces. They chose to partner with CampusWorks, Inc. and found a way to save money and improve their…

Response to intervention (RTI) is an approach to instruction, assessment, and intervention that enables early identification of students who are experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties. The jurisdictions served by the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands expressed interest in a study of whether and how state education…

Few studies have focused on practitioners' perspectives on and interpretations of official language policies in schools and how such policies shape their practices. Teachers are an integral part of the process of policy appropriations that occur within and across policy levels (state, district, school, and teacher). Through interviews with…

Most colleges and universities that launch into social media do so by dipping one toe in the water rather than swan diving into the deep end. And while many people define "social media" as Facebook and perhaps Twitter, the term actually encompasses everything from blogs to photo- and video-sharing sites to LinkedIn to any of dozens of…

This long-range program, prepared as required by and in support of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), is intended to meet federal funding priorities and support the continuation of programs that have operated successfully in Massachusetts over the last decade. The purpose and background of the program are summarized, and the…

For years, Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School was plagued by low student achievement and high staff turnover. Then, in 2010, with an expanded school schedule made possible through federal funding, Orchard Gardens began a remarkable turnaround. Today, the school is demonstrating how increased learning time, combined with other key turnaround…

The 20-year partnership between Boston University and the school district of Chelsea, Massachusetts, came to an official end in June 2008. Although the partnership is by many measures successful, the continued success of the district will depend on how well Boston University is able to share with stakeholders management techniques and the…

The overall goal of the Long-Range Program for Massachusetts' libraries is: to stimulate awareness and understanding of critical social issues and problems and to assist all individuals in reaching their highest potential for self-development. The means for achieving this overall goal are given as sub-goals. Sub-goal 1, shall be the further…