High school reform has now been on the national agenda long enough that people can begin reaching conclusions about the effectiveness of various approaches to it. This article discusses several strategies of high school reforms which includes: (1) improving school climate; (2) strengthening curriculum and instruction; (3) raising graduation…

Considers how educators can best prepare their students to meet the demands of test standards without sacrificing what they know to be effective teaching. Provides examples of how addressing the standards improved both the author's teaching and student learning by providing a focus and a challenge that moved her out of her comfort zone. (SG)

Discusses the importance of conducting research on the impact of professional development on student learning, explaining why research has not provided any answers and describing an alternative approach that involves beginning from the end then working backward. The paper presents four staff-development principles common to the diverse mix of…

This interview with staff-development expert, Bruce Joyce, discusses the effect of staff development on student achievement, focusing on the importance of teachers and administrators continuously studying what they are implementing, research on how staff development affects student achievement, assessment as part of the process of instruction, the…

The article synthesizes research findings from studies examining how principals and teachers contribute to shared instructional leadership and the relationship of shared instructional leadership to teacher and student learning. Principals and teachers contribute to the leadership equation in each school in different ways, according to school…

A teacher center emphasizing reading-oriented experiences would have a substantial effect on how educators teach reading. The need for such a center is reflected in the widely held belief that competent teaching of reading provides students with opportunities for success in most curricular areas. Planning an effective teaching center with a…

Programs limited to making students "feel good" often fail to strengthen the internal source of self-esteem related to integrity, responsibility, and achievement. Schools using the Building Self-Esteem program discovered significant positive changes among both students and teachers. Students exhibited more cooperative behavior and greater academic…

In a Philadelphia-area school district, teachers who substantially improve student performance (as individuals or as groups) now receive up to $5,000 more yearly. One of only three performance-pay plans in the country, the plan relies on objective evaluative data, not administrator observations. (MLH)

Most teachers welcome the opportunity to become more effective educators, and look for ways to improve their own teaching practice. With the dizzying array of state tests, district assessments, and program-specific rubrics, many are at a loss as to how to begin using data to improve their practice. There are many ways teachers can use data to…

In this article, we argue that human resource (HR) management practices are important components of strategies for improving student achievement in an accountability environment. We present a framework illustrating the alignment of educational HR management practices to a teacher performance competency model, which in turn is aligned with student…

This report describes Ohio's school restructuring efforts under the No Child Left Behind Act, including findings from interviews with state officials and case studies of nine schools in four school districts: Cincinnati Public Schools, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Mansfield City Schools, and Mount Vernon City Schools. Key findings from…

Promises to staff usually evolve around issues of working conditions and individual autonomy, but a staff's collective commitments to students can serve as a powerful catalyst for improved professional practice. In this article, the authors present two schools--Penasquitos Elementary School in San Diego, California, and Levey Middle School in…

This report contains an analysis of the mechanisms that connect teaching processes to student achievement and the circumstances contributing to the establishment of treatment conditions in classrooms. The first section is focused on the way in which academic tasks operating in a classroom influence the quality of student learning. The second…

Research indicates that students achieve better when teachers have a wide array of skills and adapt these skills to different contexts. Teachers differ on how they perform these instructional behaviors. This article shows that attempts to improve student achievement must be based on the development of more effective teaching behavior. (Author/VM)

Describes recent research about the influence of teacher expectations on student achievement. Different types of teacher expectations and expectation effects are defined, and evidence for the existence of these effects is examined. Research on how teacher expectations are communicated to students is summarized, and the implications of this…