The purpose of the AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) Handbook for Cycle 3, 2006-2009 is to provide school authorities with the provincial and local requirements and processes for planning, funding, implementing, managing, evaluating, reporting and sharing school improvement projects. The handbook provides a framework for the…

The concept of systemic school change as a comprehensive approach to raising academic achievement and preventing school dropouts in Massachusetts is summarized in this report. Following a description of systemic school change, reasons for adopting a systemic change approach are offered. Nine princples of systemic school change are provided,…

This reference guide was created for district leaders and teams who are preparing for or engaging in planning for continuous improvement. It combines basic information about continuous-improvement planning with questions, examples, activities, and worksheets that can enrich planning by helping participants explore ideas, analyze data, and make…

Recommendations are offered for change in every area of the educational matrix, to create school environments that will raise achievement levels of students with deafness, including minority students. Recommendations focus on changing the organization, new approaches to curriculum and instruction, and evaluating the assessment strategies. (JDD)

Discussion of the secondary school reform project at Brewster Academy (NH) focuses on the School Design Model and how technology has been used. Highlights include curriculum authoring tools; professional growth tools for teachers; and results of a longitudinal study that show improvements in SAT (Scholastic Assessment Tests) scores. (LRW)

Investigates the relationship between the curriculum structure and the learning of Chinese. Analyzes the characteristics of the South East Coast Version of the junior secondary school text from Chinese Mainland to inform the teaching and learning of Chinese in Hong Kong. (CMK)

In 1989, the Minnesota Office of Educational Leadership (OEL) was directed to develop a plan for a 2-year research project to determine the effectiveness of a learner outcome-based system of education in improving pupil learning. Ten research and development project sites comprising 17 districts and 5 educational consortia received grants of…

This study postulated that if contingency management techniques were used to supplement an instructional system in which efforts toward individualization were being made, disadvantaged students would be influenced to produce more, and a higher quality of, academic behaviors and more favorable attitudes toward academically relevant concepts than…

This study examines the process through which the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC/CPSS) accredits the public high schools of New England. The commission is one of five that compose the association. Recent efforts of government agencies to hold schools accountable by testing…

Reducing the number of students in a class, especially in the early grades, is one approach educators have taken to improve student achievement. Class-size reduction programs have been implemented at the state, district, and individual school levels. This pamphlet defines class-size reduction, provides an overview of class-size reduction research,…

This paper reports on a study that systematically analyzes the hundreds of collective-bargaining agreements for school districts in the state of Michigan. It examines collective bargaining's impact on Michigan's public education and makes recommendations that school boards should incorporate into their union contracts to improve their ability to…

Block periods of 75, 90, 100 minutes, or longer require good teachers to continue to develop and improve their teaching skills while keeping the student engaged over a long period. The fewer class meetings in the semester or year, and the rich potential for creativity and innovation provided by the longer period all combine to offer a challenge…

This guide discusses preparing volunteer tutors for success in educational environments and describes the startup year of these programs. Research and experience in the field suggest that a good beginning is key to the long-term survival of new programs. The startup year is the most challenging. It requires leadership to muster the energy and…

Identifies and discusses four major concerns with the 1996 National Education Summit's call for standards. Argues schools need more than just standards testing, criticized as an easy solution to a complex problem. By creating tougher standards and through the overuse of standarized tests, schools are transforming into sorting mechanisms,…

Examines the effort to accurately measure the changes in student achievement under school reform. The article discusses the need for value-added indicators of school improvement, the need to equate and check test scores, the problems with use of grade equivalents for assessing school improvement, and citywide trends in achievement. (GLR)