This Virginia edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop and implement an articulation model between a senior high school and a feeder intermediate school based on problems identified in a needs assessment. Treatments in the form of objectives were applied to the various problems uncovered and became the basis for the model. Subsequent evaluation indicated…

This practicum developed a model of vertical articulation between elementary feeder schools and an intermediate school. The program and model were developed after a formal needs assessment was carried out to determine articulation problems. After problems were determined, objectives were formulated and strategies developed. Objectives that…

Designed for a 90- or l80-day middle/junior high school career orientation course, this teacher's guide and the accompanying student activity manual focus on how personal needs can be met in the career world. Course goals listed are as follows: (1) to increase understanding of self by helping students analyze personal interests, abilities, values,…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the achievement of rural students on the 8th grade mathematics Virginia Standards of Learning assessments to urban and suburban students in Virginia. The variables of school size and socioeconomic status, as expressed by percentage of free or reduced lunch populations were also considered. The…

Designed for a 90- or l80-day middle/junior high school career orientation course, this student activity book and the accompanying teacher's guide focus on how personal needs can be met in the career world. Course goals listed are as follows: (1) to increase understanding of self by helping students analyze personal interests, abilities, values,…

Describes the Lead Teacher Program of Virginia's Quality Education in Science and Technology project which helps lead teachers become educational leaders, resource teachers, and school-based staff developers. Major foci include leadership, understanding and applying technology, and science and mathematics integration, content, and pedagogy. Some…

The Theatre Arts Standards of Learning identify the essential content and skills required in the theatre arts curriculum for the middle school and core high school courses in Virginia's public schools. The standards are designed to be cumulative and progress in complexity by course from the middle school through the secondary level. Throughout…

As a student teacher who had just finished her teaching assignment at Old Dominion Middle School in central Virginia, the author was struck by differences in students' classroom and hallway behavior. Whereas students were calm and respectful inside classrooms, they pushed, cursed, and ran in hallways while teachers looked on. Wondering why…

This report provides selected results from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for Virginia's public-school students at grades 4 and 8. Since 1992, reading has been assessed in four different years at the state level (at grade 4 in 1992 and 1994, and at both grades 4 and 8 in 1998 and 2002). Virginia participated in all of…

Describes the development of a multicultural library media program based on experiences at a Virginia middle school. Highlights include the media center as a cultural and curricular resource; establishing philosophies and goals; reviewing current materials and establishing guidelines for new material selection; staff development; and an integrated…

Case studies of focus groups as a useful educational research strategy for evaluating noninstructional interventions are described. Focus groups were used to evaluate the effectiveness of programs in the following Virginia school settings: (1) peer counseling programs in 4 high schools with 49 student counselors; (2) gifted programs in 7…

The Virginia Reading to Learn Project is a state-wide project designed to help content area teachers at the middle school and secondary school levels teach their students how to comprehend their content area textbooks. Teachers learn instructional strategies and techniques within the framework of the total reading process incorporating reading,…

In recent decades, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers have sought a new way of life in large numbers, often leaving their countries of origin behind in search of places that offer a better way of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate how elementary and middle school students in state schools in Reading, England (primarily…

In this article, the author presents Sharon I. Byrdsong, the 2006 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year, who believes that all students can achieve and makes it happen with programs and policies that support students and teachers. When Sharon I. Byrdsong took over as the principal of Azalea Gardens Middle School in Norfolk,…