Professional development that improves teaching and student learning meets research-based standards to ensure high-quality educator learning experiences. Since the quality of professional learning affects its results, many states, districts, and schools want to measure the effectiveness of their professional development to make targeted…

This article explores the implementation of the Victorian Youth Employment, Education and Training Initiative (YEETI). This statewide initiative delivered brokerage funds to homeless young people through their housing advocates. One of the findings of the project was that the main barrier to young people achieving a stable continuum in their lives…

This case study examined a multi-college community college district in northern California in a primarily rural area, to understand how their practices compared to management best practices designed to improve student success, barriers that may exist in implementing best practices, and how the institution may improve its own practices. The problem…

This article examines shifts in educational and social governance taking place in Queensland, Australia, through Education Queensland's Industry School Engagement Strategy and Gateway Schools program. This significant educational initiative is set within the context of Queensland's social investment agenda first articulated in its education policy…

Concern about rigor is not new. Since the release of "A Nation At Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) the debate about the quality of America's schools has grown exponentially. This debate calls for dramatically different schools, schools that are much more responsive to student need, and provide a rigorous…

This report is an overview and summary of the Arizona Governor's Forum: Linking Ready Kids to Ready Schools. The forum, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Education Commission of the States, was held on May 30, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. Six dozen educators, education experts and advocates gathered during the one-day forum to map out…

Over the past decade, a wave of education reform has swept the nation. Yet the general public remains largely unaware of it, even though the reforms are arguably among the most successful public policy initiatives of the past quarter century. One reform that has the potential to leave its mark for many years is the P-16 initiative. This article…

While universities can play a major role in advancing research-based community development, academic discourses of rigor, quality and ethics often conflict with the participatory and collaborative approaches required by community development principles. While experienced academics often have difficulty negotiating these issues, they present…

Educational technology-related professional development (ETPD) can be designed in many different ways. ETPD varies by general purposes and goals, specific learning objectives, curriculum content, student grade levels for which the strategies and tools presented are appropriate, professional development models used, how it is matched to…

As the limitations of one-off and disconnected professional learning programs for teachers are recognised, there is widespread interest in building learning communities and professional learning teams within schools. When considering how to build local learning communities, school and university partnerships are seen as offering rich possibilities…

Nearly every college and university has an array of student service entities. These services deal with such matters as admissions, residence life, tutoring, career planning, personal counseling, first year student issues, and other student matters. Unfortunately, disconnect often exists between the classroom and student service programs. This…

When the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education (subsequently referred to as the commission) convened in the fall of 2008, the educational landscape included a number of issues that the commission's members recognized as formidable challenges to those students who aspire to enroll and succeed in college. The Commission's…

The purpose of the case study is to describe how one large school district in the United States has expanded their expectations for students based on the perceived need for graduates to compete in an increasingly global job market. The study "summarizes" the processes for establishing districtwide systems to support these expectations. The case…

Smooth early childhood transitions are key to ensuring positive outcomes for young children the world over--but in today's fragmented early education systems, it's difficult to ensure continuity among programs and services. Early childhood professionals will help change that with this book, the first to propose a comprehensive, practical framework…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a preschool program followed the recommendations outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in their joint position statement "Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good…