The following resource is an impact story of how NCSI built the capacity of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to design a state system of support to begin addressing the special education teacher shortage. The resource provides context for the intensive technical assistance focusing on improvement science, provides qualitative and…

Although research suggests various effective interventions to curb obesity, there remains a gap between current evidence and sustainable practice in schools and communities. School settings present a logical platform for this work, since children spend much of their time in school. This article describes the Building Healthy Schools Program, a…

This evaluation reviews efforts made by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with guidance from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development, to spur experimentation with new systemic change strategies to increase the number of children from priority populations--those considered to be the most vulnerable, with multiple risk…

This report is an evaluation of efforts made by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with oversight from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD), to test, support, and facilitate innovations in the early childhood system in 11 communities across the state. The Early Childhood Innovation Zones (IZ) initiative, funded…

The Early Childhood Innovation Zones initiative was established by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with guidance from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development. Funded by a Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge grant, this initiative supported capacity building efforts for organizations working with young children in…

We present the perspectives of teachers and others involved in the collaborative design of teaching and learning artifacts across three cases: (a) an independent group participating in lesson study; (b) teachers participating in professional development programs; and (c) a district initiative for producing numeracy tasks. Among the results we…

The Model IV Intervention is one of four models that provide technical assistance to Virginia school divisions and that are now being tested by VDOE under the PA+SS project. The Model IV Intervention differs from Models I, II, and III because it is directed from the school division central office, includes a central office school improvement…

The Neighborhood Jobs Initiative (NJI) began in 1998 in five cities (Chicago, Fort Worth, Hartford, New York, and Washington, D.C.) in 1998. The NJI targets high-poverty urban neighborhoods, attempting to connect residents to employment opportunities nearby and in the urban periphery by providing training, supporting interpersonal networks, and…

This symposium included four papers about the administration of the evaluation of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I projects. The first speaker, Janice K. Anderson, presented a summary of efforts to coordinate evaluations so as to promote sufficient uniformity for generalizations across local programs, but permitting maximim local…

By establishing its Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN) in 1989, California became the first state to spend substantial funds on building a technological infrastructure for adult education. OTAN's goals are as follows: foster communication among state officials, researchers, and local administrators, instructors, and staff in adult…

This document contains materials about and from the Planning for Change (PfC) project, which was conducted to accomplish the following objectives: (1) further develop and document a comprehensive community planning process across Pennsylvania's workforce investment board (WIB) regions; (2) pilot the comprehensive planning project; and (3) expand…