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Academy for Educational Development (AED)
http://www.aed.org/
Founded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development is an "independent,
non-profit service organization committed to addressing human development
needs in the United States and throughout the world." Through various
projects, AED strives to solve social, economic, and environmental problems
through education and human resource development. Each AED-sponsored
project is described at this searchable site, and links to separate
homepages exist for some. Project subjects include, but are not limited
to, school health, Head Start, School-to-Work, educational reform, disability
and special education, and adult learning and literacy.
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform
http://www.annenberginstitute.org/
The purpose of the Annenberg Institute is to promote, sponsor and study
a variety of efforts to rethink and reform schools for American children
while providing a non-partisan forum for the exchange of ideas relating
to educational reform. The Annenberg Institute was created in 1993 as
a semi-autonomous unit at Boston University with initial private funding
of $5 million. Principal long-range support comes from a $50 million
gift from the Annenberg Foundation, as part of philanthropist Walter
H. Annenberg's $500 million "challenge to the nation" to improve
American schools. This site contains information on how the Institute
will work, and focuses on its activities. It also contains links to
pages on the Annenberg Challenge, including specific information on
the Chicago Challenge Grant, as well as pages on other Annenberg Institute
projects.
Bibliography on School Restructuring (1995)
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cors/Bibliographies/bib.html
This document created by the Center on Organization and Restructuring of
Schools at the University of Wisconsin- Madison is a comprehensive list of
research and theoretical literature in school restructuring. The work is
organized into five main sections: General References, Student Experiences,
Professional Life of Teachers, School Governance, and Collaboration between
Schools and Community.
Blue Ribbon Homepage
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/BlueRibbonSchools/
Established in 1982 by the Secretary of Education, the Blue Ribbon
Schools Program has evolved into a national school improvement strategy.
The program serves to promote quality education by recognizing outstanding
public and private schools, disseminating effectiveness criteria, and
fostering cooperation between schools. This site includes information
on application procedures, programs updates, winning schools and tips
on "what works."
"Career and Technical Education Reforms and Comprehensive School Reforms in
High Schools and Community Colleges: Their Impact on Educational Outcomes for At-Risk Youth"
http://nccte.org/publications/infosynthesis/r&dreport/CTE%20Rfrms_Stringfield.pdf
This report, published by the National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education, examines the effects of vocational education reform and its impact on at-risk students. In doing so, the report analyzes research in three broad areas: student risk factors in education, the state of secondary vocational education, increasingly known as career and technical education (CTE), and the interplay of CTE and other comprehensive school reform efforts. In addition, the report explores reform efforts in postsecondary CTE programs, usually found at community colleges.
Catalog of School Reform Models
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/catalog/index.shtml
Produced jointly by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform, the goal of this online publication is to gather information on multiple school reform methods for educators looking for an external model to meet their schools' needs. The site provides descriptions of 26 entire-school models and 10 reading/language arts models. Each entry includes the general approach, results with students, implementation assistance, costs, and other components as well as contact information. Schools are included based on evidence of effectiveness in improving student academic achievement, the extent of replication, implementation assistance provided to schools, and comprehensiveness.
CATO Institute Research Area: Education Reform
Studies
http://www.cato.org/research/edu-st.html
Founded on the principles of Libertarianism, the Cato Institute is
a public policy research foundation. "The Institute has become a national
leader in exploring and promoting market-based public policy alternatives
involving privatization, school choice and competition, and the creation
of charter schools." Included are a summary of the Institute's research
and policy agenda, links to Cato briefings, reviews of selected books,
and some full text articles online.
The Center for Education Reform
http://www.edreform.com/index.html
The Center for Education Reform is an independent, national, non-profit
organization providing support and guidance to individuals nationwide
who are working to reform schools. This site has links to pages containing
rich information, including the following: Center for Education Reform
Press publications; detailed descriptions of various aspects of education
reform (charter schools, school choice, etc.); statistics and "at-a-glance"
information; and contact information for many other education reform
groups.
Children First America
http://www.childrenfirstamerica.org/
A privately funded, not-for-profit national organization, CFA's stated
mission is "to promote parental choice in education through private
tuition grants and tax funded options,..." They serve as the national
clearinghouse for privately funded voucher program information. The
site is well organized and includes links to affiliate programs, choice
legislation, research, news and debates.
CREDE Programs and Projects
http://crede.ucsc.edu/products/print/reports/rr1a.html
The Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence's research
and development focuses on critical issues in the education of linguistic
and cultural minority students and those placed at risk by factors of
race, poverty, and geographic location. CREDE sponsors five research
programs. Particularly of interest is Integrated Reform and System Studies
research-Program 5, which focuses on eight particular areas: estimating
the population of at-risk students; evaluating the effectiveness of
"untracking" low-achieving minority students; improving English-language
instruction; Appalachian children's academic and social development;
Native American school/community reform; case studies of exemplary Native
American-based indigenous education; and, classroom social organization
and peer and student/teacher relationships. Of additional interest is
their page on Teacher-School-Systemic
Integration for Effective Reform [http://www.crede.ucsc.edu/research/tier/tier.html].
CSRQ Center: Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center
http://www.csrq.org/default.asp
Created by American Institutes for Research (AIR) with funds from U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the CSRQ Center provides tools and technical assistance to support educators and decisions makers on choosing the best CSR model to fit local needs. CSRQ Reports provide information on CSR models and its website provides a search of different CSR models.
Developing Educational Standards
http://edstandards.org/Standards.html
This site contains a wealth of links to sites on curriculum standards.
Both national and state standards are included.
An Educators' Guide to Schoolwide Reform
http://www.aasa.org/issues_and_insights/district_organization/Reform/index.htm
This well organized report examines 24 schoolwide approaches drawing
on the expertise of the American Institutes for Research (AIR), an independent,
internationally recognized research organization. Under contract to the
American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of
Teachers, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National
Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Education
Association, the report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quantitative
effectiveness of each of the chosen school reform approaches along with
the selection criteria. Included are detailed evaluations of each unique
reform approach, with a comparative overview. Also provided are in-depth
details of the selection and evaluation criteria. Web addresses for each
reform model are included when available.
Education Reform Networks
http://www.edreform.net/
This site includes a collection of digital resources on National Standards for Staff Development for educators, information on using technology and other educator’s resources.
EdWeb Home Room: Exploring Technology and School Reform
http://www.edwebproject.org/resource.cntnts.html
Described as "An intelligent, detailed, informed and practical
guide, both to education related issues concerning the Internet, and
to educational resources on the World Wide Web...," by Harvard
Educational Review, this site contains well-organized, straightforward
information on various aspects of education, including school reform.
There is an emphasis on computers and the Internet in these pages, but
there is plenty of general information, as well. The pages on school
reform provide a synopsis of its history, including a link to the full
text of _A Nation at Risk_, in addition to explanations of various methods
of reform.
MiddleWeb: Exploring Middle School Reform
http://www.middleweb.com/
Middle Web is a collection of useful web sites geared toward middle school
reform produced by the Focused Reporting Project, and with financial
support from the Program for Student Achievement of the Edna McConnell
Clark Foundation. MiddleWeb provides resources for schools, districts,
educators, parents, and public school advocates working toward reform in
the middle grades. In addition, this site includes hundreds of articles
and links about curriculum, teaching strategies, teacher professional
development, parent involvement, classroom assessment, and more.
National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA):
Education Issues
http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/edu1.html
The NCPA is a nonprofit public policy research institute dedicated
to seeking private sector solutions to public policy problems. This
site provides a wealth of information pertaining to education from this
perspective. Included here are such topics as: school choice, spending
and school finance, school management and control, teachers' unions,
as well as other topics. Also included are essays providing NCPA's point
of view on bilingual education, curriculum and standards, compulsory
attendance and other issues related to education.
NCREST: National Center for Restructuring Education,
Schools and Teaching
http://www.tc.edu/centers/ncrest/
From the homepage, "NCREST (at Teachers College Columbia University)
was created to document, support, connect, and make lasting the many
restructuring efforts going on throughout the nation....The center brings
together many voices: those of Practitioners and Researchers, Parents
and Students, Policy Makers and Teacher Educators." Besides this
basic description of the organization, the homepage contains only a
link to NCREST Websites and Projects, which include Teachcomm Web, Leading
Edge and Basic School National Center.
National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform
http://www.csrclearinghouse.org/
This site, housed at George Washington University and funded by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education of the U. S. Department of Education, offers a systematic approach to schoolwide reform involving all aspects of school improvement. Offering a wealth of valuable links, this resource contains a step-by-step topic guide designed to help educators in various stages of reform, a comprehensive library on school reform topics, and links to reform models as well as organizations and agencies involved in comprehensive school reform.
Pathways to School Improvement
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/
This web resource is a product of the North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory (NCREL), one of ten Regional Educational Laboratories (NCREL's
region includes Illinois). The Regional Educational Laboratories are
educational research and development organizations funded by the U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
Pathways was designed primarily to help school improvement teams through
the "School Improvement Cycle," a method of school reform
advocated and explained in detail in this site. The Pathways site also
has a "Critical Issue Areas and Topics" section with links
to information on Content Areas, Environment, Educators, Students and
Teaching. The site has other helpful information, but is formatted in
a somewhat confusing manner, employing links between pages which are
conceptually difficult to follow.
Quality Counts
http://www.edweek.org/sreports/qc04/
Links to state-by-state information on education quality and hypertextual map of the United States can be found at this Education Week on the Web site. The site also contains a 'Report Card' for each state. The reports provide educational indicators such as student achievement, teaching quality, and school climate. Information, useful percentages, and grades are given for each subject..
Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform for Youth with Disabilities (RISER)
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/riser/
The mission of RISER "is to expand the current knowledge base related
to practices and policies in secondary schools that enhance learning,
achievement and postschool outcomes for students with disabilities."
RISER's objectives within the first five years of its inauguration are to
undertake five programs of research in examining: the use of
support strategies in promoting access to the general education
curriculum, in engaging and retaining students, and in improving
educational results based on authentic achievement standards; the critical
attributes of contextualized learning and assessment of authentic
learning; the connections between schools and community agencies; the
relationship between in-school outcomes data from authentic inclusive
pedagogy and schooling practices and postschool outcomes; and, the scope and
qualities of the school-based planning processes used in schools
demonstrating authentic inclusive pedagogy. A form for nominating a
school for participation in the research projects is available online.
Rethinking Schools
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/
This online journal devoted to urban education and school reform is
produced by an independent publisher of education materials. Selected
articles from past issues are available without charge. The focus of
the journal is from an activist perspective, and includes articles on
standardized testing, school vouchers, equity and social justice.
School Choice 2003: How States Are Providing Greater Opportunity In Education
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/index.cfm
This site provides an introduction to the topic of school choice and a glossary of relevant terms. Through tables and maps, the site provides information about each individual state and its reform efforts.
School Choices: The Citizen's Guide to Education
Reform
http://www.schoolchoices.org/
This searchable site addresses the problems faced by public schools
and state school systems around the world, particularly with regard
to the comparison between competitive educational markets and government-operated
school systems. The purpose of the site is to present and synthesize
the "historical and modern evidence on the best way to run school
systems." Conflicting opinions are presented and encouraged for
submittal.
School Reform News
http://www.heartland.org/Publications.cfm?pblId=6
This conservative publication is a project of the Heartland Institute.
The Heartland Institute is "...a nonprofit organization devoted
to turning ideas into social movements that empower people" (from
the Heartland Institute homepage). This page links to the web version
of "School Reform News" (1999 to current issues), a newsletter
covering school reform efforts nationwide.
"Separate Tables: Academic and Vocational Education Reforms in Traditional Comprehensive High Schools"
http://www.nccte.org/publications/ncrve/mds-10xx/mds-1076.html
This report, produced by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education in 1998, examines the school reform efforts of two traditional, comprehensive high schools in Illinois. Focusing on simultaneous reform in both vocational and academic education, it considers the impact of overall school restructuring on vocational reform efforts as well as the relationship between the two. Through a thorough case study analysis of each
school, the report draws conclusions to overall themes and outcomes of the reforms in
addition to future policy implications.
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL)
http://www.sedl.org/
The Southwest Education Development Laboratory (SEDL) is a private,
not-for-profit education research and development corporation based in
Austin, Texas. "SEDL's mission is to find share and sustain effective
solutions for the most urgent problems facing educational systems,
practitioners, and decision makers in the southwestern United States.
SEDL's particular emphasis is on ensuring educational equity for children
and youth who live in poverty; who are Hispanic, Black, or other
minorities; or who have physical or mental exceptionalities." Most of the
SEDL's programs carry out field-based research and development. The
primary strategies are those of development, dissemination, training, and
technical assistance, supported by evaluation and applied research.
Tools for Schools
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/
This extensive site provides in-depth essays about 27 models of school
reform, divided into 3 categories: Comprehensive school reform models,
classroom and curriculum redesign models, and professional development
reform models. This information, published by the National Institute
on the Education of At-Risk Students, is intended to provide data to
"practitioners and policy makers who have decision-making authority
for improving the performance of schools with significant at-risk
populations."
WestEd
http://www.wested.org/
WestEd is a non-profit research, development and service agency whose
focus is on children, youth and adults in the Wester region of the United
States. They work with policy makers as well as practitioners with a
focus on: Children, Families and Community; Whole School Change; Language,
Culture and Equity; Assessment, Accountability and Evaluation; Policy
Support; Math and Science Instruction; Safe Students, Safe Schools;
Professional Development; School-to-Work; Meeting Special Rural and Urban
School Needs; and Technology in Education. WestEd also offers a broad
array of publications ranging from policy issues, instruction and case
books, technology, educational partnerships and more. In addition, they
provide full-text articles online pertaining to many hot topics in
education, as well as providing valuable hyperlinks to related information
sources. Administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement,
they are part of a network of 10 laboraties which encompass the entire U.S.
World Class Education Center
http://www.columbiagroup.org/worldcla.htm
Although this site was created by the Florida Chamber Foundation, the
information it presents is not restricted to the Sunshine State. The
goal of this site is to help children "acquire the knowledge and
skills needed to succeed as productive citizens."
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