The purpose of this article is to share the history of one Professional Development School (PDS) partnership in an effort to help others reflect, set visions, and move forward into a new educational future. The emergence, development, and continuation of this partnership was dependent upon finding ways to create a growth-oriented environment,…

With the second-round deadline for federal Race to the Top Fund grants less than six weeks away, states are rushing to raise the stakes on their education reform plans as they fight over the remaining $3.4 billion in prize money. But in doing so, states from Massachusetts to Colorado are tangling with their teachers' unions as they test how far…

The Lifelong Learning Project was a 3-year effort launched in March 1980 to assist educational leaders in California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, New York, and Ohio in their planning and coordination of adult learning services. These six states undertook a variety of project activities aimed at establishing and maintaining a participatory planning…

Teachers and administrators of Ogden Elementary School (Ogden, Kansas) had a problem--the school had had a pattern of poor student performance at least since 1991, when the Kansas State Assessment was implemented. Ogden had failed to reach the state standard of excellence (25% of tested students scoring in the "exemplary" category; 5% or…

The experience of Kansas communication educators in developing speaking and listening assessment has been characterized by unusual cooperation and collaboration among members of the educational community and the professional communication organizations at several different levels. In 1992, the Kansas State Legislature established the Quality…

Ten rural school improvement clusters involving 63 districts, 7 colleges and universities, and 6 state departments of education have been developed in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota through the work of the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory's Rural Education Project. Four essential steps appear necessary for…

A successful teacher induction program developed by Emporia State University and implemented in 20 small rural Kansas school districts uses a seminar format that promotes reflection on teaching practices and collegial interchange. Program structure and participants, seminar purposes and content, and program outcomes are discussed. (SV)

America's prairie land is under economic and ecological stress. Acting on the belief that rural schools can help revitalize their communities when schools' activities are related to the places where they are located, schools in Arizona, Kansas, and Nebraska are integrating prairie studies across the K-12 curricula. With the help of area…

Recent societal changes have forced public education to assume many responsibilities that have been the traditional role of parents and family. The sheer number of pressing social problems, their multifaceted nature, and the lack of resources are particularly problematic for rural school districts. The Southeast Kansas Education Service Center…

Rural Kansas schools facing financial problems and demands for more accountability must cooperate to survive. Smoky Hill Education Service Center, representing 45 school districts, provides on-site staff development and online classes for students and staff, maintains a multimedia library, has a cooperative purchasing program, provides…

Alternative certification programs continue to increase as school districts, institutions of higher education, and commercial companies share common educational expectations. In Kansas, a state-wide collaborative of eleven partner institutions, governed by an advisory board, designed a conceptual framework, a standards-based program, curriculum,…

The Kansas Library Network Board (KLNB) appointed a Distance Learning Committee to investigate the possibilities for more effective cooperative arrangements between institutions sponsoring distance learning classes and local libraries. This document contains two sets of recommendations to the KLNB. The first set describes how the KLNB might assist…

The Coordinating Board for Higher Education and the Department of Higher Education are pleased to present this Annual Report of accomplishments, benchmarks and statistics related to Missouri higher learning for fiscal year 2008. Chief among this year's accomplishments is the coordinated plan, "Imperatives for Change: Building a Higher…

A project entitled Enhancing the State Role in Lifelong Learning was undertaken in Kansas to enhance state-level planning and the development of policies in support of adult education. Because Kansas is one of six pilot project states participating in the Education Commission of the States (ECS) Lifelong Learning Project, a two-year data…