About three-fourths of the states have already adopted the Common Core State Standards, which were designed to provide more clarity about and consistency in what is expected of student learning across the country. However, given the brief time since the standards' final release in June, questions persist among educators, who will have the…

In the midnineties, Albuquerque Public Schools developed an Extra Support for Principals initiative-a voluntary support program that respects participants' time constraints and schedules only three activities during the year. Both experienced and mentored principals value the program, which keeps more beginning administrators on the job. (MLH)

SUAVE (Socios Unidos para Artes Via Educacion--United Community for Arts in Education) is an arts-integrated approach to teaching in multicultural and multilingual settings. A unique professional development project for San Diego-area teachers, SUAVE helps teachers develop ways to integrate the arts into mathematics, science, language arts, and…

In 1996, Missouri passed legislation that provided districts with grants to establish alternative schools or programs for violent, abusive, or disruptive students. St. Joseph School District developed a successful Elementary Management School stressing social skills needed to succeed in a regular classroom. Facility, staffing, curriculum, and…

The School Improvement Model launched by the Iowa State University College of Education in 1964 uses a total-system approach to measure and report teacher performance. SIM focuses on student achievement and emphasizes validity, reliability, discrimination, and 360-degree feedback from principals, other teachers, parents, and students. A Wyoming…

Although professional-school models differ markedly, they generally share visions of how the school-university partnership can improve teacher education and schooling; commitment to shared decision making and funding; and new roles for university and school faculty. George Mason University's experience demonstrates that concentrating efforts…

At one Wisconsin middle school, a successful student motivator is an improv troupe that develops and performs unscripted, improvisational skits about social issues affecting adolescents. Skits stop at a critical decision-making point or show the devastating effects of a negative choice. Discussion reinforces the message. (MLH)

For the past decade, the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education and local school districts have worked to discover effective methods for integrating educational technologies into teaching practice. Some basic strategies and philosophies include establishing effective goals for technology, providing adequate teacher and student access…

Designed by the National Foundation for the Improvement of education, Bill Gates's The Road Ahead Program features extensive Internet access for all students and teacher opportunities to work with networks and multimedia technologies. Each school in the 22 participating communities is paired with a community organization. Staff development should…

The achievement gap between fortunate and less fortunate young children was the leading motivation for expanding and changing the kindergarten curriculum in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. The more rigorous, new curriculum became accelerated and literacy-based, focusing on mathematics, reading, art, music, and physical education. (MLH)

Describes various projects that are part of a movement to return geography to a central place in the curriculum of America's schools. Focuses on the Geographic Education National Implementation Program (GENIP), sponsored by the National Geographic Society and other geography interest groups. (IW)

Describes the successful operations of a middle school's experimental Student Study Center, designed to utilize inschool suspensions as educational and social rehabilitation programs for at-risk students. (IW)

Jumpstart, a homegrown before-school tutoring program piloted at a Massachusetts school, has proven successful with at-risk first graders. Implemented as a low-cost alternative to Reading Recovery and Success for All programs, the 18-week action-research project employed 11 inclusion and Title I aides as volunteers. (MLH)

In 6 short years, principal Lirah Sabir salvaged a low-achieving, predominantly black elementary school in downtown Memphis. Her vision is to make students integral members of society. Impressive gains in student health and achievement; community, parental, and staff involvement; and curriculum and instruction are explained. (MLH)