This study investigated the relationship between a multiple team structure and student achievement in a high minority (predominantly African American), low socioeconomic status middle school over 3 years. Part of a larger 5-year investigation of team structures in high performing restructured middle schools, the study observed the components and…

This report describes the professional development experiences of teachers in high-performing, high-needs (HPHN) schools. Researchers surveyed K-5 teachers from 10 schools in a district with large numbers of impoverished students, examining: teachers' perceptions of the characteristics and outcomes of their professional development experiences;…

This article provides a compilation of integration options for including students with severe disabilities. It discusses collaborative planning for inclusion, and provides a chart illustrating the stages of planning for curriculum adaptations for students with disabilities. A case study of collaborative planning is provided. (Contains references.)…

Promising educational practices focus on achievement for all students and present evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness. Schools that have broken the mold are vision-focused and values-based. The most hopeful strategy for sustained, substantive educational improvement involves developing school staff into professional learning communities in…

Discusses issues regarding the mainstreaming or locating of English-as-a-Second- (ESL) or Additional- (EAL) Language in the mainstream curriculum classroom. Presents the perspectives of the class teachers who are responsible for language and learning development of these students and reports on interviews with the class teachers who have…

Describes one university's Senior Festival, in which seniors in the Early Childhood and Elementary Education program document their progress by displaying and sharing their work with faculty and students. The Festival develops students' collaboration and critical thinking skills and celebrates accomplishments meaningfully. This improves school…

Describes a project in which faculty from five community colleges and one liberal arts college collaborated on developing a seamless, competency-based program of courses to aid transfer students. Indicates that as a group those transfer students participating in the project had higher post-transfer GPAs than non-participating students. Contains…

This EdSource report summarizes the Initial Findings issued in October 2005 from a two-year study conducted by EdSource, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, and American Institutes for Research (AIR). In addition, this report includes information collected during the study but not previously reported (from superintendent…

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 04) demonstrate a focused attempt by the U.S. Congress to improve the educational outcomes for students with disabilities through shared responsibility and accountability of both general and special educators. In this article, the author illuminates the…

This study investigated how seven high-poverty middle schools demonstrated strong academic improvement so they were performing at levels consistent with, and often better than, higher-income schools in their states. Schools ranged in enrollment from 291-1,010 and represented several community types and ethnic groups. Among the characterisitics…

These case studies described how seven high-poverty middle schools were able to demonstrate strong academic improvement in a short amount of time so they were performing at levels consistent with, and often better than, higher-income schools in their states. These case studies focus on procedural knowledge that may prove useful to other schools…

Describes findings from several Florida research initiatives on diversity and school restructuring: (1) special education placement rates, suspensions/expulsions, dropouts, and academic achievement by ethnic group; (2) African American male students' concerns; (3) outcomes of children with disabilities when schools engage in school reform; and (4)…

Followed 9th grade teachers and their students as they began a teaming initiative to address urban educational challenges. Results showed that teaming meant the development of an ethos of collaboration manifested in everyday interactions among team members. This enhanced teachers' ability to transform their world of work, though their…

The Alabama Reading Initiative is a public-private consortium promoting a research-based approach to literacy instruction. Its goal is 100-percent literacy. Use of the approach at one middle school involved development-, practice-, and demonstration-oriented professional development and deep faculty collaboration. The effort resulted in a dramatic…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…