Research and Best Practices
The largest in-depth study of school leadership to date, this report gathers and analyzes quantitative data confirming that education leadership has a strong impact on student achievement, as measured by student test scores. The study shows that leadership makes its mark largely by strengthening a school’s “professional community” – an environment where teachers work together to improve classroom instruction. It also finds that rapid turnover of principals reduces student achievement. In addition, the study shows that although the.....
High School Resources
Uncharted Territory: Using Tiered Intervention to Improve High School Performance
A new report from the High School Tiered Interventions Initiative (HSTII), a collaboration among the National High School Center, the Center on Instruction, and the National Center on Response to Intervention, summarizes what HSTII has learned thus far about effective implementation of RTI in high schools.
Tiered Interventions in High Schools: Using Preliminary ‘Lessons Learned’ to Guide Ongoing Discussion, provides a brief description of the RTI framework and the essential components of RTI, illustrates how the essential components of.....
Reinventing the American High School (Association for Career and Tech Ed)
In this paper, the Association for Career and Technical Education review the challenges and current efforts in high school redesign, and offer a number of recommendations about what elements should be included in our mutual efforts to reinvent the American high school for the 21st century.
Resources for Designing ILPs for Students Who Have Not Passed the AKHSQE
This resource is for educators looking for ideas as they develop individual student learning plans for students who have not passed the AK HSQE.
Research base of individual learning plans at the high school level and its impact on student outcomes
The information provided addresses the origins and effectiveness of Individual Learning Plans (ILP) for all high school students. Although the use of ILPs may build upon the well established Individual Education Plan (IEP) for students with learning disabilities, it is not explicitly linked to that practice in the resources reviewed. (From the National High School Center)
Turnaround Strategies and Models for High Schools
(From the National High School Center) This resource is a synthesis of the literature on high school improvement organized by key elements of the turnaround/transformation models, as defined by the federal Title I School Improvement Grant regulations. The synthesis has been organized into the following three sections:
* Improving High Schools Overview/Background
o The High School Context
o Supporting Low Performing Schools: Lessons Learned
o Implications of the Lessons for High School Turnaround
*.....
Individual Learning Plans For High School Students
The information provided addresses the origins and effectiveness of Individual Learning Plans (ILP) for all high school students. Although the use of ILPs may build upon the well established Individual Education Plan (IEP) for students with learning disabilities, it is not explicitly linked to that practice in the resources reviewed.
The use of Individual Learning Plans for all high school students appears to be based on the move towards creating more student-centered, personalized learning environments with one key goal to foster student.....
CTE and Possible Links to Dropping Out (National Research Center for Career and Tech Ed)
If participation in career and technical education has some relationship to dropping out of high school, we need to understand the nature of this relationship better. Research in this area can have implications for our conceptual understanding of what helps students find attachment to high school. Additionally, research in this area could have policy or practical implications for secondary education, as decisions are made about where dollars should be invested and how curriculum should be organized.
After considering simple descriptive.....
NRCCTE Report on the Efficacy of Dual Enrollment
Dual enrollment programs enable high school students to enroll in college courses and earn college credit. Once limited to high-achieving students, such programs are increasingly seen as a means to support the postsecondary preparation of average-achieving students. Moreover, though dual enrollment programs typically have been reserved for academically-focused students, increasing numbers of career and technical education (CTE) programs are providing such opportunities to their students.
Despite the popularity and growth of dual.....
"The Idea Center" for CTE
The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) are searching for ideas and practices that are positively impacting student achievement in career and technical education classrooms, buildings and districts. The Idea Center is collecting this information and making it easy for teachers, administrators, guidance counselors and others to share, comment on and experiment to make career and technical education an even better education for our nation's students,.....
Systematic Reviews of Research: Postsecondary Transitions - Identifying Effective Models and Practices
This systematic review of the literature on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education sought to identify models or programs of transition, establish a definition of successful transition, discover how models or programs are evaluated, and examine the impact of such transition programs, specifically those that aim to facilitate transition from an educational system to another educational system, to program completion, or to specific career-related employment for disadvantaged youth.
Web-Based Resources for Science, Technology, and Engineering: Tools and Activities for Teaching and Learning
The entries compiled here are grouped by type (general or subject-specific), and include information about the appropriate grade level(s) for the online activities and sample lessons. Following these entries is an annotated bibliography of online articles and books.
Both the links and the resources presented here were selected by CAST in fall 2005 according to two criteria: 1) they shed light on the kinds of effective research, classroom practices, and policies that support standards-based learning, and 2) they can be accessed free of.....
A Research Paper Discussing Direct Instruction in Middle and High School Mathematics for Students with Learning Disabilities
This paper focuses on direct instruction (DI) and the Six Teaching Functions as applied to middle school math for students with learning disabilities. DI refers to a specific method of teaching that focuses on both “what” to teach (i.e., the design of the curriculum) and “how” to teach (i.e., specific teaching techniques), direct instruction (di) refers to more general teaching methods.
Enhancing Academic Literacy of ELLs in Science and Social Studies Classrooms
This is a presentation from the first of a series of 90-minute webinars designed to provide an opportunity to engage with national experts in an interactive learning process centered on adolescent literacy best practices used in traditional content-area classrooms in grades 4-12. It includes an overview of two experimental studies aimed at boosting the academic achievement of older English learners.
The Educator's Reference Desk - Sample Lesson plans by subject sponsored by GEM/ERIC
This collection contains more than 2000 unique lesson plans which were written and submitted by teachers from all over the United States and the world. These lesson plans are also included in GEM, which links to over 40,000 online education resources. The Educator's Reference Desk builds on over a quarter century of experience providing high-quality resources and services to the education community. (From the Information Institute of Syracuse, the people who created AskERIC, the Gateway to Educational Materials, and the Virtual Reference.....
Engaging Learners the SMARTboard Way - Using the Smartboard in the Classroom
Interactive whiteboards are gaining in popularity in schools. SMART technology is one of the most popular interactive whiteboard options. This workshop explores ideas for using interactive whiteboards in the classroom, adapting existing Notebook projects, and integrating resources for each subject area.
Linear Toothpick Sculpture Art Project
This creative high school art project asks students to create a free standing linear sculpture composed of units. Students learn how artists communicate visually in their work using the elements of design. It comes from the rich Incredible Art Lessons website.
Developing a Freshman Watch List to Lower Dropout Rates
Listen to how the Department of Graduation Pathways supports schools in identifying students who fall off track to graduation and in planning interventions. Schools receive a Freshman Watch List to identify incoming freshmen who need interventions to be on track for graduation at the end of the freshman year. The department used this sample material, Graduation Pathways: Using Freshman Year Indicators, to help school staff understand the freshman year indicators. (4:36 min)
Effective Science Instruction: What Does Research Tell Us? (K-12)
Effective Science Instruction: What Does Research Tell Us? [K-12] Published by COI
A debate continues over what constitutes effective science instruction. This brief endeavors to distill the research on science learning to inform a common vision of science instruction and to describe the extent to which K-12 science education currently reflects this vision. A final section on implications for policymakers and science education practitioners describes actions that could integrate the findings from research into science education.
