This commentary explores a central issue for our times, online reading comprehension. It first defines three issues that have largely gone unnoticed as the Internet enters our classrooms: (1) literacy has become deictic; (2) effective online information use requires additional online reading comprehension practices, skills, and dispositions; and…

This study examined how multiple measures can be used to study experienced teachers' learning. The study was conducted in an advanced Master's degree programme, aligned with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the United States. The programmatic features and key learning experiences found in the programme are described and…

Local educational agencies (of which there are more than 14,000) have the primary responsibility for governance of public vocational education and training (VET) in the United States. Local agencies operate within a framework of state legislation and regulations that are heavily influenced by federal legislation. The federal government offers…

The chosen focus of this special issue is timely given the burgeoning international interest and investment in leadership development and school improvement. In many countries leadership and improvement have been closely linked and there is no doubt that this linkage has an international reach. Together, these articles review and extend some of…

The 44th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools showed some sharp divisions among the public's attitude toward the public schools, but also some hopeful signs of broad agreement in some areas. Satisfaction with President Barack Obama declined in the last year, but remains ahead of two years ago and the public…

Inclusion, promoted internationally by both legislative mandate and societal values, is a practice in which early childhood educators are encouraged to explore new methods for serving children with disabilities and developmental delays in typical early childhood programs. The belief that children with disabilities should participate within natural…

This article stresses that current school improvement policy in the USA marginalizes development of the type of system of student support necessary for enabling student success and well-being at school. Then we discuss how education policy can be expanded and operationalized to correct this deficiency. Finally, we explore the implications of the…

The institutional environment of America's schools has changed substantially as government regulation has focused increasingly on the core technical work of schools--instruction. The authors explore the school administrative response to this changing environment, describing how government regulation becomes embodied in the formal structure of four…

Many studies have shown that higher-quality early care and education (ECE) predicts positive developmental gains for the children who experience it. However, much ECE in the United States is not of sufficiently high quality to produce these benefits. Quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) attempt to improve practice and care quality in ECE…

This report is the ACT annual report on the progress of U.S. high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year's report shows that 64% of students in the 2016 US graduating class took the ACT test, up from 59% in 2015 and 49% in 2011. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth of the…

To what extent is the design of American schooling adapted to the lofty aspirations educators have enunciated during the last century? I first enumerate these aspirations as well as the basic design of schooling; then I evaluate the match. After highlighting the limitations of the basic design, I point to some alternative settings offering greater…

This book provides a valuable balance between what one must know and what one must do to turn around low-performing schools. The 3-E framework simplifies this complex process by focusing resources on the environment, the executive, and the execution of the turnaround plan. Central to each of these components is a spotlight on the values supporting…

In many ways, China's education system is quite different from systems of education in the West. Rich descriptions of school transformation, however, have revealed that the factors that fuelled transformation in schools in China are also evident in schools in Australia, England, Finland, Wales and the United States. This paper draws on an…

Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) is poised to take action today that will lead to serving all students more effectively. Although the challenges are significant, including deep budget cuts, the district made the strategic choice to look thoroughly at how resources are currently allocated and now has a foundation for making decisions that will…

Recent years have seen the pace of change in education accelerate at all levels as educators and policy makers instigate reforms aimed at raising academic achievement in the United States to a world-class level. Perhaps nowhere has the pace and scale of change been more dramatic than in the realm of K-12 academic standards. In 2009, 48 states, two…