The Elementary and Middle Schools Technical Assistance Center (EMSTAC) tested an insider-outsider approach to assist local school districts in effectively identifying and implementing scientifically based practices. Methods used to measure EMSTAC's effectiveness in supporting successful practice adoption are presented. The overarching finding is…

The Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program is part of the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) that was authorized under Title VI, Part B of the "Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965" ("ESEA"), as amended by the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" ("NCLB"). The RLIS program provides additional funds…

This brief is intended to provide State Education Agency (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) educators with a brief overview of key components of GraduateFIRST, a Georgia program targeting issues impacting school completion for students with disabilities. Georgia's GraduateFIRST program has redefined the state's approach to raising graduation…

Are you trying to support an entire school district full of computers with just a few hardware technicians? Do you have a non-technical person answering the phone? Are the teachers getting upset because of the length of time it takes to resolve their issues? Unfortunately, I had to answer yes to all three questions. Our school district includes…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply…

In 2002, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) published a study on charter schools and special education that documented significant unresolved issues between Colorado charter schools and Local Education Agencies (LEAs). This study specifically examined the cost and quality of services, school district/Boards of Cooperative Educational…

In the book, "1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work," author Pamela Livingston begins with an important point for those who are considering a laptop program for the first time: Newcomers are fortunate to be able to learn from the educators who have started down the 1-to-1 road before them. This proved to be true for two neighboring…

The set of two case studies examines the supports for instructional improvement in two school districts through the experience of individual teachers who are trying to change their practice in accordance with the district's reform work. Our overarching research question for these case studies was: What supports this teacher in changing his or her…

"Helpful Hints" offers a quick overview of school emergency preparedness topics that are frequently the subject of inquiries. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a comprehensive system that improves tribal and local emergency response operations through the use of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the application of standardized…

Businesses have a great deal of expertise that could be useful to school districts. Business acumen can be used to make the educational system more efficient and effective or to make organizational and systems changes. An administrative school study can be undertaken by study teams of business personnel to determine problems in the district and…

Educators often use the term technical assistance to define services delivered or received in the pursuit of school- and district-improvement initiatives. More specifically, technical assistance can be defined as any assistance that identifies, selects, or designs research-based solutions and practices to support school improvement (Mattson &…

In an effort to promote quality inclusive schooling for all children in New York State, the New York State Department of Education Vocational and Education Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) teamed with Syracuse University School of Education to develop a consortium of over 65 colleges and universities state-wide with teacher…

Background: In June 2002, the State of Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) passed Public Act 02-119, An Act Concerning Bullying Behavior in Schools and Concerning the Pledge of Allegiance. Section 1 mandated that each local and regional board of education (school district) develop a policy to address bullying in its schools. Conn. Gen. Statute…

Two schools in Idaho received ARRA SIG (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act School Improvement Grants) funds to enable them to implement improvement efforts. This paper describes the outcomes of these two ARRA SIG recipient schools: (1) Jefferson Middle School; and (2) Lakeside Elementary School. The experiences of this non-recipient school is…

Passed in 1999, the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) established a results-based accountability system in California with specific performance targets for schools. The PSAA created a system of rewards and sanctions for meeting or not meeting those targets, and established assistance programs for low-performing schools. In 2001, the High…