In our session, we showcase work from a researcher-practitioner partnership between James Madison University, the University of Virginia, and Harrisonburg City Public Schools that is focused on developing a continuous improvement process to translate social-psychological interventions into teaching practices that enhance motivation and learning.…

On July 24 and 25, 2012, members of the Task Force on Admissions in the 21st Century gathered in Reston, Virginia, to discuss the progress made by the implementation team in addressing action items from the Task Force's Preserving the Dream of America 2008 report; the current environment for admission; and actions to be taken to further the task…

Project Forum at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) and the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) worked together to collect information regarding the need for a policy forum on the topic of administrative collaboration between school personnel who support homeless education under the McKinney-Vento…

Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) researchers visited 38 public high schools around the United States in 2007 and 2008 with the goal of validating and operationalizing a definition of college readiness. Schools in the sample were selected because they were demonstrating success at enabling more students from underrepresented groups to…

In 1970, two of Lynchburg, Virginia's elementary school districts were combined to accomplish court-ordered pupil integration. The Elizabeth Kizer School housed grades K-2 and Dearington School, grades 3-5. Prior to the desegregation order, Kizer's enrollment had been 100 percent white and Dearington's enrollment 100 percent black. In 1989, as…

This Virginia Assembly document focuses on the concept of community as defined by the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution. The final report identifies and discusses problems related to the modern quest for community in a national republic. Recommendations by the Assembly are offered in eight areas: (1) civic responsibility; (2) corporate…

A study investigated the level of 24 transition services and factors that affect service delivery for secondary students with disabilities in 135 Virginia school divisions. Transition services were categorized as inclusion, instructional programs, coordinated planning, and support services. Factors affecting delivery were cooperation of vocational…

These three papers address various aspects of community college/high school articulation in Virginia. First, Eunice B. Kirkbride's paper, "Articulation in Northern Virginia," examines the process of smoothing the path from high school to community college by evaluating prior learning and eliminating the need to repeat previously learned…

A study investigated whether a college reading center was superior to a local public school as a practicum site for developing teachers of literacy. Of 17 undergraduate preservice teachers enrolled in a practicum in a reading field placement course, 10 were placed in the college reading center and 7 in a primary level public school. The preservice…

In 1986, a Commission appointed by the governor of Virginia recommended that the teacher preparation degree program should consist of the greatest number of courses in the arts and sciences that can be included feasibly and some specially developed education courses. In response to this challenge, Radford University developed a totally…

The U.S. Department of Education is supporting a 3-year program involving Virginia Tech's computer department and a rural public elementary school. The project seeks to determine whether immersive access to networked computing by students and their families has measurable effects on long-term student achievement. A fifth-grade classroom was…

The Virginia Tech Technical Assistance Center is a collaborative effort among the state education agency, local school districts, and Virginia Tech. The center and its two components, the Severe-Profound Technical Assistance Center (TAC) and the Mild-Moderate TAC, are operated under the school's Institute for the Study of Exceptionalities,…

A restructured administrator preparation program, the Regional Principal Preparation Program, is described in this report. The program is characterized by university/school cooperation, onsite delivery, job-relevant curriculum, full-time internships, mentorships, adequate candidate assessment, individualized educational programming, and followup…

When remedial/developmental programs at community colleges are examined on a national level, four areas of concern are apparent: (1) administrators frequently fail to provide the funding and personnel necessary to meet the needs of a diverse student population; (2) instructors are often intellectually and culturally unprepared to teach…

The Virginia State Department of Education funded four, 3-year pilot clinical faculty programs to provide training and compensation to cooperating teachers for the purpose of improving the supervision of student teachers. Two of the programs which received grants were collaborative projects: partners Virginia Tech University and Hollins College…