This handbook, first published in 2014, aims at helping policy makers and social partners understand some of the ways in which learning in the workplace can be encouraged and how its quality can be improved. It is also intended to help them understand some of the ways that such learning can be organised in a structured manner so that it benefits…

Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) is an integral part of the Louisiana school and district accountability system passed by the state legislature and signed into law in 1997. In March 2004, students in grade 8 took LEAP 21 English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies tests. This document…

Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) is an integral part of the Louisiana school and district accountability system passed by the state legislature and signed into law in 1997. The primary purposes of the accountability system are to raise expectations for achievement for all Louisiana public school students and…

The Fairfax County Public schools (VA) presents Familygram, a newsletter directed to parents to help them better discuss and use test results for the improvement of their child's education and the quality of the education program in Fairfax County. An attempt is made to answer several important questions: What tests are given? Which of them are…

The Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Leadership and School Improvement presents this revised and updated technical assistance manual for the 2004-2006 Effective Instructional Leadership Act (EILA) cycle to assist local educators as they implement EILA. The law was established to "encourage and require the maintenance and development of…

This book is designed to serve as a handbook for early childhood professionals and others interested in improving the quality of early childhood services available to young children and their families. It also serves as a resource for information and tools that can be used to: (1) build a compelling case for improving the quality of early…

The Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) aims to stimulate sustainable systemic improvements that enhance student performance in mathematics, science, and technology in 66 Appalachian counties characterized by persistent poverty. To support this aim, a major ARSI goal involves development of partnerships among families, communities, and…

In 1999, Public Education Network received a 3-year grant as part of a set of projects to better link research and data to policy and practice change. The project was intended to build public knowledge and understanding of how to improve teaching through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on teachers and teaching. The project…

Actions which leaders of business, industry, and labor can take to promote the improvement of K-12 public education are presented in this brochure. The brochure is one of a series which offers specific ways in which different interest groups can respond to the eight broad action recommendations proposed by the Education Commission of the States'…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) should be a guiding force in science education and in building public understanding of science and technology transfer issues. The nation's community, junior, and technical colleges, which now enroll 52% of all Americans who go to college for the first time, are eager to work with the NSF to further these…

Justification for school district consolidation is made on the basis of either reducing cost or increasing educational quality. Some cost reduction may be realized through certain economies of scale in some consolidations but it is by no means automatic. The Illinois State Board of Education emphasizes the relationship between high school size and…

Because most decisions that affect quality of schools are made in the community, citizens should become school partners in education. This booklet offers the following suggestions for citizen actions: (1) Get informed. As "owners" of the local school board, citizens have a right to know what students are expected to learn. Individuals should…

This guide provides perspectives about Technical Preparation (tech prep) from personnel representing the 50 state agencies and many local consortia. The guide also explores an approach to implementing tech prep based on the concept of total quality management (TQM). Each chapter begins with an overview that provides background, a summary, and list…

This guide is designed to help community members have productive conversations about how schools and communities can work together to meet the challenge of educating youth in today's society. The foreword presents a rationale for community discussions regarding improving education, and the introduction highlights new challenges facing schools. The…

More than 50 years ago, in Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that sending children to separate schools solely on the basis of race was unconstitutional. Seven years prior, the Supreme Court ruled in Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Education that Mexican American children could not be denied access…