Since 2012, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has supported educational enrichment in rural areas by awarding over $3.3 million in grants to six outstanding organizations operating in Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In this report, the authors combine the experiences of these organizations with findings from the…

The field of teacher preparation is falling short of its most important responsibility: ensuring that the teachers we train are ready to do the job. For more than a decade,TNTP preparation programs produced teachers who were no more or less effective than teachers from any other program-- some were great, some were poor, most were about average.…

The Better Schools Program began in 1984 throughout Tennessee. This 10-point program improved achievement by emphasizing basic skills, computer skills, increased math and science requirements, special programs, and a redefinition of vocational education. Sensitive issues such as year-round schools and incentive pay for teachers have been…

This collection of papers on the history of developmental education includes: "Historical Perspectives: With Hindsight We Gain Foresight" (Normal Stahl); "Supporting the Research Mission" (David V. Taylor); "A Brief History of the American Council of Developmental Education Associations" (Hunter R. Boylan);…

This report covers the activities of the Knox County Mathematics Basic Skills Improvement Project from September 1980 to September 1982. The purpose of the project was to raise the level of student performance in the basic skill area of mathematics in the Knox County School System through the development of a restructured curriculum for grades…

Discusses the uses and effect of computers in schools. Describes and discusses the three general categories of services and activities associated with microcomputer applications that are provided by the Tennessee State Department of Education: instructional support tools, curriculum programs and literacy activities, and technical assistance. (SB)

A review of externally mandated outcomes assessment activities and resulting innovations in freshman programs focuses on efforts in Tennessee and Virginia, in which higher education funding is linked to outcomes assessment. Areas examined include registration, advising, student-faculty contact, computer use, basic skills, staff development,…

A career training program funded by the Job Training Partnership Act was developed in Loudon County, Tennessee, to alleviate the stresses that are described in the hypothesis that occupational aspirations and expectations are lower for rural, female, economically disadvantaged, and handicapped youth than they are for other youth. To participate,…

The Basic Educational Skills Training (BEST) workplace literacy demonstration model was designed to provide adult basic education (ABE) services simultaneously for multiple employers in Maury County, Tennessee. The BEST model focused on job-related instruction. The goal of the program was to achieve increased safety, productivity, and employee…

This paper describes a model for a literacy program proposed for the Rural Education Project at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. The program would target unemployed adults, at-risk youth and others in a seven-county target area whose lack of reading skills hampers their search for employment. The model calls for cooperative…