Evaluation results are reported for a gifted education consortium, involving seven rural school districts and Purdue University's Gifted Education Resource Institute. Positive change occurred in teachers and other school personnel in knowledge level and attitudes toward gifted education. High satisfaction with goal achievement was indicated by…

Educational administration faculty from five public higher education institutions in New Mexico formed a consortium to address the need for effective educational leaders in rural school districts. Members established the New Mexico Partners for Educational Leadership (PEL), composed of faculty from the five universities, leading educational…

Small schools may resist educational reform because they view the implementation of change as too costly and time consuming. Formation of a consortium of small schools allows the pooling of staff and resources, thereby increasing capabilities while maintaining the positive attributes of small schools. In rural northeastern Oregon, eight small…

In spite of a diminishing amount of money available for educational research, a demand still exists for research and evaluation. This paper discusses how to initiate cooperative research between local education agencies and neighboring universities and educational labs and centers. First, the paper identifies problems in the development of…

The Paraprofessional Training Project at California State University, Chico, is operated through a consortium of the University, Colusa County Schools, and Butte Community College. The 3-year program provides trainee paraprofessional teaching staff to work with the predominantly Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient school population of the…

Reports on Leadership Effectiveness Assisted by Peers (LEAP), a large-scale school leadership project within a major (Toronto) school district, and its relationship to other district developments and policies. Considers how these developments are supported by district involvement in an ongoing district-university partnership called the Learning…

Do state regulatory type agencies for higher education, either consolidated governing boards or coordinating boards, have measurable effects on institutional effectiveness or efficiency? To answer this question three types of information were examined: (1) opinions of the president or delegate representative; (2) data on actual costs that are a…

Institutional research is viewed by many persons as the process of providing appropriate data for the purpose of making sound decisions. The major place for applying the principles of the discipline of institutional research has mostly been in institutions of higher learning and a few large metropolitan public school districts. It is proposed that…

The Greater Cleveland Educational Development Center is a consortium comprising the College of Education at Cleveland State University, Ohio, and 35 local school districts and educational agencies in northeastern Ohio. The principal mission of the Center is to provide quality staff development programs to teachers and administrators from its…

The Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education, a consortium of 10 colleges serving Appalachian Ohio, provides grants to school districts that design innovative projects to encourage students to enroll in college. The area's college-going rate has increased substantially. Approaches used include demystifying the application process, home visits,…

Describes the North Country Mentor/Intern Teacher Regional Consortium, which provides training and supervision to 11 pairs of mentors and beginning-teacher interns in 4 rural New York school districts through a partnership with the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Discusses program design, goals, needs assessment, training activities,…

The Arlington (Virginia) Adult Learning System (AALS), a program designed to link resources and enhance services of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) providers, is described. The AALS is a consortium in which an adult education provider (the public school system) coordinates efforts of its own organization with a community-based organization, a…

This conference emphasizes the importance of collaboration among university training programs, education agencies, local business, and community groups in attracting minorities to teaching careers. A review of research on the best practices for recruiting minorities includes the following strategies: start early, use peer contact, involve parents,…

Partnerships is an Emporia State University program designed to strengthen university relationships with public schools in Kansas. It contains four strategies for offering services needed by public school practitioners: (1) providing leadership, research, and staff development assistance to formal school district consortia in the university's…

A consortium involving the Grayson County (Virginia) school system, Wytheville Community College, and Radford University was developed to address the teacher shortage in rural, economically depressed Grayson County. Using existing courses, a curriculum was developed that allows a student at Grayson County high school to obtain as much as 32 hours…