The purpose of this research was to explore why some elementary ETS benefited from professional development in terms of increased students' outcomes, while other ETS did not produce the same gains. The aim of this research was to analyze the degree of satisfaction and effectiveness of professional development by interviewing coaches,…

Established in 2006 by New Leaders for New Schools[TM], the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative rewards high-need urban schools showing significant gains in student achievement. In exchange, schools agree to share the practices helping to drive those gains, which they do through an in-depth study of practice, aided by the EPIC…

This article discusses competing perspectives on the value of the General Educational Development (GED) credential. Although scholars and journalists debate the worth of the credential, urban youth continue to pursue the GED, especially as proxy for inadequate schooling. Using qualitative data from a participatory action research project, the…

Teachers are leaders when they function in professional learning communities to affect student learning, contribute to school improvement, inspire excellence in practice, and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement. From an equity perspective, teachers also lead when they serve as change agents who collaborate to use…

This qualitative study explores the experience of specialist teachers specific to their individual roles within the coaching model (CM). Reasons for in-depth study include (a) Rochester's struggle to meet federal and state student achievement benchmarks, (b) practitioner frustrations from site-level resistance or CM use, and (c) shifting role…

Educational privatization is rapidly expanding in many urban school districts, altering the social, political, and economic dynamics of educational policy and leadership. Yet many adherents cast privatization primarily as a fiscal or economic alternative to traditional public school management, ignoring these broader alterations. Drawing from a…

This report by the Council of the Great City Schools to the Rochester City School District presents the organization's findings and recommendations for improving the special education program in the school system, placing special emphasis on the organizational structure of the program, accountability, and how the instructional program generally…

On a frigid Martin Luther King Day in 2008, some 800 parents and youth from neighborhoods throughout New York City rallied at St. Paul's Church in lower Manhattan, and marched to the headquarters of the city's Department of Education to launch a citywide middle grades school improvement effort. The rally was organized by the New York City…

This presentation capitalizes on a three-year, longitudinal, school-randomized trial of the 4Rs Program, a comprehensive, school-based social-emotional and literacy program for elementary schools, to test intervention induced changes in features of classroom climate and key dimensions of teacher affective and pedagogical processes and practices…

The growing consciousness on the part of adults that they should continue their education is revealing itself by a general and growing interest in the public evening schools. There are those who think that this movement is one of the most important for race betterment that the world has ever known. It is but natural that taxpayers who have…

Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for Sharks and Rays, along with profiles of three teachers who took the course. Fifteen course takers from nine states who responded to the annual…

Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for "Earth: Inside and Out", along with profiles of three teachers who took the course. Course takers report on the annual follow-up surveys…

Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for Space, Time and Motion, along with profiles of three teachers who took the course. Course takers report on the annual follow-up surveys that Space,…

In an effort to increase the knowledge about professional development programs that promote strong instructional leaders, the Wallace Foundation recently commissioned a study of innovative principal professional development programs and the policy and funding mechanisms that support them. In fall 2003, the foundation awarded a grant to a team of…

Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for "The Diversity of Fishes", along with profiles of two teachers who took the course. Course takers report on the annual follow-up surveys…