Making is a movement present in the United States which fosters creativity and invention through the creation and sharing of products. This case study of one Western Pennsylvania school district's integration of Making into its lower and upper secondary schools shows how the investment in space and equipment, guided by visionary leadership, can…

The report on which this brief is based describes performance assessments and their value for guiding and evaluating high school students' learning, as well as informing colleges and universities about what students know and can do. It explores state and local policies that support the use of such assessments, along with emerging higher education…

We report on the scaling up of a high school content literacy framework, Reading Apprenticeship, over a period of four years as part of the independent evaluation of an Investing in Innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Education to WestEd's Strategic Literacy Institute (SLI). Our goal was to understand the school processes that support…

Graduation and dropout rates are the center of the conversation about high school reform, with President Obama and the U.S. Department of Education leading the charge to boost high school and college graduation rates among our nation's students in the next ten years. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to keeping teens in school and…

Sooner or later, every teacher and administrator fantasizes about starting a school of their own. Few, however, move from off-the-cuff theory to the practical steps required to open the school house doors to real students and teachers. Fewer still manage to start an urban high school of their own while only in their mid-30s, a school that manages…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

SUPERIOR STUDENTS IN RURAL HIGH SCHOOLS WERE GIVEN PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION IN SELECTED SUBJECT AREAS TO DETERMINE IF A NONDIRECTIVE METHOD OF DIFFUSING AN INNOVATION, LIKE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION, WAS APPROPRIATE FOR DISSEMINATION IN A RURAL ENVIRONMENT. THE EFFECTS OF THE COOPERATIVE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ON STUDENTS, PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND HIGH…

Some school reform programs, such as the "Copernican Plan," advocate long blocks of classroom instruction time to allow greater instructional flexibility and active student participation in classroom work. This study investigated the effectiveness of this strategy by examining the perceptions of high school teachers who were entering or…

AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO REPORT WAYS OF ACCELERATING INNOVATION IN THE ENGLISH TEACHING. THROUGH A SERIES OF QUESTIONNAIRES TO STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS AND A MAILING LIST OF OPINION LEADERS, PRIORITIES WERE ESTABLISHED, AND INNOVATIVE AND UNDERUSED PROGRAMS OF VALUE WERE COLLECTED. THE STUDY ALSO ATTEMPTED TO LOCATE REASONS FOR THE UNSATISFACTORY…

SEVENTY-EIGHT EDUCATORS FROM 13 NORTHEASTERN STATES AND WASHINGTON, D.C. PARTICIPATED IN THE 3-DAY CONFERENCE FOCUSED ON TOPICS OF INTEREST TO BOTH STATE SUPERVISORS AND TEACHER EDUCATORS. MAJOR SPEECHES WERE (1) "A REVIEW OF RESEARCH IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC REGION" BY G.M. LOVE, (2) "REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS OF…

The presentation, review and evaluation of innovative vocational-technical curriculums in operation was the major function of a San Francisco conference sponsored jointly by the Center for Technical Education at San Francisco State College and the Center for Studies in Vocational and Technical Education at the University of Wisconsin. Major…

The Parkway Program was designed to investigate the possibility that a high school could be organized independently of any fixed institutional facilities, whether these be a school building or a fixed faculty. One hundred and forty-three Philadelphia High School students were selected at random from among applicants representing all eight…

Seven schools located in and around an impoverished West Philadelphia community are highlighted. While all seven schools are representative of a movement toward the decentralization of authority, the involvement of people in their schools, and the humanization of the educational process, each is innovative in its own way. The authors first discuss…