Tag » challenges

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  On the front lines of schools: Perspectives of teachers and principals on the high school dropout problem

  1/1/09 - Bridgeland, J., Diulio, J., & Balfanz, R.

  This report has documented a mix of hopeful views and challenging statistics concerning how, and how well, those on the front lines of America's schools -- teachers and principals -- understand the nation's high school dropout crisis. Teachers and administrators in public high schools recognize there is a dropout problem, know they are confronted with daunting challenges in classrooms and in schools, and express strong support for reforms to address high dropout rates. Yet, less than...

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  21st Century skills, education & competitiveness: A resource and policy guide

  1/1/08 - Partnership for 21st Century Skills,

  This guide summarizes the challenges and opportunities that, if left unaddressed, will curtail our competitiveness and diminish our standing in the world.

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  A collective responsibility, a collective work: Supporting the path to positive life outcomes for youth in economically distressed communities

  1/1/08 - Tsoi-A-Fatt, R.

  This paper presents a picture of risk and challenge for youth in distressed communities and outlines how these communities can band together to create a continuum of supportive activities to bolster youth’s success in school and life.

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  A framework for developing and sustaining a Part C finance system

  1/1/07 - Greer, M., Taylor, A., Mackey Andrews, S.D., The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center

  This paper summarizes the fiscal challenges that this legislation presents and proposes a framework for analyzing, adjusting, and maintaining a flexible and self-regulating finance system to support Part C early intervention services for infants and toddlers and their families. The framework design features four phases of work to help agencies understand the issues and make informed decisions for on-going development and support of a Part C finance system.

• Academic language across grade levels and content areas

  1/1/08 - Southeast Comprehensive Center,

  Robin Scarcella, PhD, director of the ESL program, University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute, discusses the challenges associated with academic language as well as ways to ensure that all students learn academic language.

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  Accounting for resource use at the school-level and below: The missing link in education administration and policy making

  1/1/09 - Dwight Denison, Leanna Stiefel, William Hartman, Michele Moser Deegan

  "In this paper, we analyze the challenges involved in establishing a system to track costs at the school, grade, and subject level that will fit the needs of both internal and external users. To begin, we review the literature on cost accounting that is relevant to micro-level costs and the research that analyzes sub-district level resources. Next, we describe general challenges that arise in reporting at the level of the school and below and we then discuss school-level reporting in...

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  Being an evidence-based practitioner: What does it take to be an evidence-based practitioner?

  Strain, P. , Dunlap, G.

  This fact sheet describes what evidence-based practitioners do, notes some of the challenges that affect the implementation of evidence-based practices, and offers advice for addressing those challenges.

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  Challenging common myths about young English language learners

  1/1/08 - Linda Espinosa

  This review of research from a variety of disciplines about dual language development and the impact of different educational approaches for children ages three to eight runs counter to much conventional thinking.Scientific studies suggest that young ELL children are quite capable of learning subject matter in two languages. In fact, they may benefit cognitively from learning more than one language. Transitioning from their first language to English before they have a firm grasp of their...

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  Chicago Public Schools

  1/1/06 - National Institute for Urban School Improvement,

  Chicago Public Schools plans to be the premier urban school district in the country by providing all their students and their families with high quality instruction, outstanding academic programs, and comprehensive student development supports to prepare them for the challenges of the world of tomorrow.

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  Collecting post-school outcome data: Strategies for increasing response rates

  1/1/07 - Smith, S.C., & Bost, L.W.

  The brief contains an overview of the requirement to collect post-school outcome data and challenges experienced by states in collecting these data. Recommendations and strategies that states can use to secure sufficient response rates, especially from youth who drop out of school, are provided.

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  Corrective action in low-performing schools: Lessons for NCLB implementation from State and district strategies in first-generation accounability systems

  5/19/09 - Education Commission of States,

  The goal of state intervention in a school or district designated as low-performing is not to punish. It is to help figure out how to improve student learning. The challenge, particularly for a chief state school officer or state board of education, is how best to leverage assistance to schools that have varying degrees of need. Most state legislatures have provided the state board the authority to act. How to proceed with limited funding and staffing is the truly difficult question. This...

• Creating Inclusive Environments by Taking a Relational Stance Toward Difference

  1/1/08 - Thea Abu El-Haj

  When my daughter was five she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It was clear from the first moment that my daughter returned to her kindergarten class that, as a parent advocating for a child with a medical disability, the stance I took toward difference would matter greatly. One approach, perhaps the obvious one, would have focused on her physiological disability and understood the “problem of difference” as an individual one, making the fewest possible demands on the school...

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  Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction

  1/1/04 - Tandria Callins

  This paper is one of the practitioner-oriented briefs produced by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). It applies to all teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students who are interested in improving literacy instructions. In order for culturally and linguistically diverse students to become productive members of society, they need to be fully functional participants in literate communities. Literacy is pervasive not only in school but in...

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  Deep dialouges to re-imagine and re-create public education

  1/1/08 - Ron Glass

  It is probably never easy to have a deep conversation with another person; each person’s hopes, fears, anxieties, doubts, dreams, and many other powerful feelings, conscious and unconscious, easily get in the way of honest and full expression. To have a deep conversation with a stranger, or with whole groups of strangers and even an entire community, can seem impossible.To talk openly and honestly about our experiences of schooling is equally challenging. Some of our most significant...

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  Double the Work: Challenges and Solutions to Acquiring Language and Academic Literacy for Adolescent English Language Learners

  1/1/07 - Deborah J. Short, Shannon Fitzsimmons

  This report explores challenges to improving the literacy of adolescent ELLs who must complete double the work of native English-speaking students and still reach the same performance standards. In response to these challenges, the report presents recommendations for meeting ELLs’ varying literacy needs, taking into account their educational background, native language literacy, and socioeconomic status. Double the Work is informed by expert advice and a review of relevant literature and...

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  Engaging parents in education: Lessons from five parental information and resource centers

  1/1/07 - U.S. Department of Education,

  Children benefit academically when parents and educators work together. For this reason, parents’ involvement in their children’s education is a priority of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. But a strong connection between parents and educators does not come about automatically. Both parties may need to learn new roles and skills and develop the confidence to use them, especially as parents move beyond traditional activities, like helping children with homework, and toward shared...