The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the factors that support and hinder reform of career and technical education in Maine. The single case study design examined the experiences of eleven participants connected to a single Career and Technical Education (CTE) Regional School in Maine. Based upon the lived experiences at a single site,…

Our PreK-12 schools face increasing complexities such as accountability, diversity, closing the achievement gap, and working in an era of standards-based reform (Drago-Severson, 2009). The purpose of this inquiry was to understand teachers' experiences with one type of learning experience, "action research," and to investigate the impact…

Nelson Beaudoin, the principal of Kennebunk High School in Maine believes devoutly in letting students have a say in how they are educated. He also knows the risks. At this student-centered school, learning includes sex education. The girls' team chooses "sexually transmitted diseases" for 300 points. Although the game is modeled after…

Schools must move away from individualism and toward more participation and shared decision making to meet the needs of society. Eight schools in Maine School Administrative District #4 adopted site-based management in an attempt to do this. Several important goals must be set in restructuring schools. First, students must enter the marketplace…

Four dissimilar schools each respond to a learning challenge by questioning set-in-stone thinking and taking risks. A K-8 school in Toronto bypasses the traditional--and problematic--long summer vacation to follow a balanced calendar model. Students attend school year-round with two-week breaks scattered throughout the year; both remedial and…