Resources: Check It Out!

The Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network—The Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network is a practical research-based Web site developed by the nation’s leading universities. Bringing together many of the resources of all the public land-grant universities in the country, it was designed to benefit anyone who needs comprehensive children, youth, or family information including: educators, researchers, parents, community members, human services and health care providers, students, policy makers, and media. For more information, visit www.cyfernet.org.

The National Center on Student Progress Monitoring—The National Center on Student Progress Monitoring was created to help meet the challenges of implementing effective progress monitoring by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The Center’s mission is to provide technical assistance to states and districts and disseminate information about progress monitoring practices proven to work in different academic content areas (K-5). The site contains many downloadable articles, PowerPoint presentations, and links and resources on student progress monitoring. For more information, visit www.studentprogress.org.

The Michigan School Improvement Framework—The Michigan School Improvement Framework is based on supporting research approved by the Michigan Department of Education. For a complete listing of this research, visit www.michigan.gov/osi, and click on Michigan School Improvement Framework.

BuildingChoice.org—BuildingChoice.org is a new Web site and online toolkit from the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) Office on Innovation and Improvement. BuildingChoice.org provides a variety of practical resources based on diverse school districts across the country that have created voluntary public school choice programs. A 26-page illustrated companion to the Web site, An Invitation to BuildingChoice.org, is available free of charge by calling (877) 4ED-PUBS with identification number EU0159P, while supplies last. BuildingChoice.org is an online complement to the USDOE Office of Innovation and Improvement’s popular Innovations in Education book series.

Bridge to Algebra—Bridge to Algebra is an algebra readiness curriculum for middle and high school students preparing for first-year algebra studies from Carnegie Learning, the Pittsburgh-based maker of Cognitive Tutor. This research-based curriculum is intended to provide a foundation for struggling students whose past math performance indicates little chance of success in algebra. The blended curriculum is a mix of software, text, and classroom instruction. The software application provides a number of unique features including practice sets that employ contemporary word-problem scenarios and an on-screen “skillometer” designed to track student progress. For more information, call (888) 851-7094 or visit www.carnegielearning.com.

The National Alliance for Secondary Education and Transition (NASET)—NASET is a national voluntary coalition of more than 40 organizations and advocacy groups representing special education, general education, career and technical education, youth development, multi-cultural perspectives, and parents. NASET Web site contains national standards and quality indicators—research-based benchmarks that articulate quality secondary education and transition services for all youth. The site also includes a transition toolkit for systems improvement as well as supporting evidence and research for the standards and indicators, a self-assessment tool, a priority-setting tool, and an action planning tool. For more information, visit www.nasetalliance.org.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—NCES, located within the Institute of Education Sciences, is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal provider of statistics on the condition of American education. NCES gathers and presents data and analyses in reports on all aspects of pre-kindergarten through post-secondary education, libraries, and international education and produces popular recurring reports such as the Condition of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, and Projections of Education Statistics. For more information or to access reports, visit http://nces.ed.gov.

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century—What author Thomas L. Friedman means by “flat” in his book is "connected." The lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. Friedman argues that we have stopped paying attention to these developments. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete—and win—not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. For more information, visit www.amazon.com.

The American Educational Research Association (AERA)—Founded in 1916, AERA is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results. AERA has the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. Its 22,000 members are educators; administrators; directors of research; persons working with testing or evaluation in federal, state, and local agencies; counselors; evaluators; graduate students; and behavioral scientists. The broad range of disciplines represented by the membership includes education, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science. For more information, visit www.aera.net.

What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action—Author Robert J. Marzano says that any school in the United States can operate at advanced levels of effectiveness—if it is willing to implement what is known about effective schooling. "If we follow the guidance offered from 35 years of research," says author Robert J. Marzano, "we can enter an era of unprecedented effectiveness for the public practice of education." In What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, Marzano synthesizes that research to provide clear and unequalled insight into the nature of schooling. In each chapter, Marzano recommends specific-and attainable-action steps to implement successful strategies culled from the wealth of research data. Schools can and do affect student achievement. In his latest work, Marzano leads the way in establishing positive approaches that can make the long-held dream of effective public education a reality. For more information, visit www.amazon.com.

Top of Page