This report provides 3rd-year findings from a 5-year longitudinal study. The study examines diverse and promising programs for integrating career and technical education (CTE, previously called vocational education) with whole-school reform in schools that serve predominantly disadvantaged students. This interim report provides early measures of academic progress for students attending schools with CTE-enhanced reforms. It examines the progress to graduation and the mathematics course-taking patterns of students at CTE-enhanced schools, compared to demographically and geographically similar students at control schools without such reforms. For each measure, percentage difference was computed, along with 95% confidence intervals for this difference.

The parameters within which young people live their lives have changed radically. Changes in education and the labour market have led to an increased complexity of the youth phase and to an overall protraction in dependency and transitions. Written by leading academics from several countries, this Handbook introduces up to date perspectives on a wide range of issues that affect and shape youth and young adulthood. It provides an authoritative and multi-disciplinary overview of a field of study that offers unique insight on social change in advanced societies and is aimed at academics, students, researchers and policy-makers. The Handbook introduces some of the key theoretical perspectives used within youth studies and sets out future research agendas. Each of the ten sections covers an important area of research – from education and the labour market to youth cultures, health and crime whilst discussing change and continuity in the lives of young people. This work introduces readers to some of the most important work in the field while highlighting the underlying perspectives that have been used to understand the complexity of modern youth and young adulthood.

From 1990 to 2000, a qualitative study of the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) was conducted in four small rural school districts in Kentucky. KERA reflects key components of what would later be termed "systemic reform": a unifying set of goals that all students must attain, a coherent system of instructional guidance, and a restructured governance system. In addition, KERA has other components, such as the ungraded primary program. This book presents findings from the second phase of the 10-year study, focusing on the effects of KERA on curriculum, instruction, and student learning in six elementary schools in the four districts. In all six schools, student achievement improved, but in five schools, teachers focused more on improving whole-school performance on achievement measures than on improving the learning of each student, and had difficulty raising their expectations for low-income and minority children. KERA reforms increased classroom writing, the variety of instructional strategies, integration of subject matter, classroom computer use, and open-ended response and portfolio items for classroom assessment. However, teachers had difficulty moving beyond a teacher-directed approach, and only a few integrated technology effectively into the curriculum. Testing for accountability became the focus of the assessment system, and the KERA goal of continuous performance-based student evaluation was neglected. School-based decision-making councils did not make most key decisions as intended by KERA. The findings also note the importance of school leadership accountability goals and the need for more time for teachers in meeting school professional development. Ten appendices present KERA goals; dissemination efforts; data collection and research questions for both phases of the study; interview protocols; and characteristics of parents, students, and community members interviewed. (Contains 151 references.) (TD)

This timely, tough-minded book shows how American public schools can be saved by instituting high standards for academic achievement. Standards for Our Schools explains not just what the standards movement is about and why it is important, but also what it will take to bring every student up to high standards, no matter where that student starts. The authors show how a single-minded focus on achievement will change everything?from the kinds of curriculum materials we use and the design of elementary and middle schools to the abandonment of the comprehensive high school and the institution of a diploma based on meeting standards, rather than on attendance. At the heart of this revolution are the performance standards themselves, which provide clear expectations for student achievement by showing examples of standard-setting student work. Tucker and Codding focus on empowering both students and adults?by giving students the gift of high expectations and by giving school professionals the information, skills, authority and resources needed to do the job. They advocate building a standards-based instructional system, creating a results-oriented culture devoted to continuous improvement, and making the institution and the people in it accountable for reaching the goals set by the standards. This book lays out a step-by-step plan that will get struggling students to high standards as well as improve the performance of high achievers. An extremely practical book, it gives everyone involved in the education of our students the tools they need to do the job. Standards for Our Schools will be the bible of standards-based education and the foundation on which educators, parents, and policymakers can build the educational system of the future.