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Coalition of Essential Schools
http://www.essentialschools.org 
The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) is a national network of schools and support centres in the USA with a national office engaged in restructuring schools to promote better student learning and achievement. 'Essential schools' share a set of ideas identified as the Common Principles, which guide their whole-school reform efforts. These principles call broadly for schools to set clear and simple goals about the intellectual skills and knowledge to be mastered by all students. The site gives information about professional development activities and conferences sponsored by CES. A variety of print and video publications can be purchased on line. The site contains an extensive bibliography of books applicable to school reform. Articles can be downloaded and there are case studies of schools that have undergone a restructuring or reform process. This site is useful to administrators and teachers involved in a school renewal process. Additional information also available at: www.ael.org/rel/csr/catalog/coalition.htm
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On Restructuring Schools: A conversation with Fred Newmann.
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/9511/brandt.html
A conversation between Ron Brandt, Editor of Educational Leadership and Fred Newmann, Director of the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This conversation ranged over issues surrounding school restructure in the USA as it applied in 1995. The Center on Reorganization and Restructure of Schools had been involved in 5 years of research on school restructure and concluded that if a school is interested in reform it should address the questions: How can learning have intellectual quality? How do we build a community of learners? Insights from the research are discussed with Fred Newmann. The studies looked at the effects of innovative organisational change on authentic student achievement. Newmann describes the research methodology, findings and results, and discusses how he thinks educators can use the results of this work.
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Partners for Success
http://www.education.qld.gov.au/students/jnt-venture/atsi/success/
Site of Education Queensland's policy statement, released in 2000: Partners for Success: Strategy for the Continuous Improvement of Education and Employment Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Education Queensland.
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Literacy and Numeracy
http://www.dest.gov.au/schools/Literacy&Numeracy/index.htm
This site gives details of the Commonwealth Government of Australia's policy for literacy and numeracy for Australian students. It outlines the National Literacy and Numeracy Plan and gives details and examples of the National Literacy Benchmarks for Years 3, 5, and 7 in writing, spelling and reading. Access is available to current and completed research projects through a clearinghouse. Relevant and useful links are provided to other literacy sites. A bibliography of Commonwealth Government policy documents pertaining to literacy is provided.
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Classroom Literacy
http://www.discover.tased.edu.au/literacy/
The site of the Classroom Literacy Project undertaken by the Tasmanian Department of Education and Tasmanian Catholic Education. This project is designed to support teachers and schools to develop and use strategies to improve literacy outcomes for students from backgrounds of poverty and low socio-economic status in Years 3 to 6 who have not achieved appropriate literacy outcomes. In the site you can follow (for example) the literacy story of students who at Year 3 are struggling to read. A 'snap-shot' assessment profile draws a quick picture of the student's skills. The profile is linked to a series of teaching strategies developed by classroom teachers to address student's needs. The profile can be used to assess the performance of any student in any classroom, and a set of teaching strategies are generated for teachers to try. There are links to other literacy sites and details of research projects developed in Tasmanian schools. Sections of this site can only be entered with a subscription obtained from the Tasmanian Department of Education.
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Literacy and English
http://www.discover.tased.edu.au/english/liteng.htm
This site addresses literacy as part of the English curriculum in Tasmania. It explores the links between English and literacy, the four roles of the literate person, attributes of a good literacy teacher, what works in literacy learning, and monitoring and assessing literacy. The site also briefly addresses whole-school literacy planning.
- Literacy leadership in New Zealand schools
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/literacy/home.html
A New Zealand national professional development program designed to support school principals by helping them to establish a coherent and consistent understanding of effective literacy practices in NZ. The site provides links to the Literacy Leadership program, the Literacy Leadership tools and to case studies, as well as the literacy vision.
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Primary English Teaching Association
http://www.peta.edu.au/
Primary English Teaching Association's interactive website committed to ongoing development of online support to teachers and other educators. There is access to a catalogue of resources, including websites, discussion sites, professional development, children's literature reviews and special projects.
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Australian Literacy Educators' Association
http://www.alea.edu.au/
The Australian Literacy Educators' Association provides support and professional development for educators interested in literacy through conferences, workshops, seminars, journals and other publications. Information on this site includes conference summaries, articles, publications and details for acquiring ALEA membership. Useful links from here include STELLA (Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia).
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Australian Literacy Federation
http://www.alf.edu.au/
The Australian Literacy Federation is a federation of five professional associations concerned with the promotion and support of English Language and literacy education in Australia. The five affiliates are The Australian Association for the Teaching of English, Australian Council for Adult Literacy, Australian Council of TESOL Associations, Australian Literacy Educators Association, and Primary English Teaching Association. The site provides reviews and access to publications relevant to literacy.
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Australian Association for the Teaching of English
http://www.aate.org.au/
The site of AATE, a peak association, numerous useful links identifying associations state by state and a list of relevant overseas associations. Information on the progress of research projects currently supported by AATE is available, along with catalogues of publications, a link to STELLA (Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia), and updates of what's on in the field of English teaching.
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New Basics Project
http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/
Education Queensland's New Basics Project deals with new student identities, new economies and workplaces, new technologies, diverse communities and complex cultures. The framework of the project is the triad of interrelated aspects of New Basics [what is taught], Productive Pedagogies [how it is taught], and Rich Tasks [how kids show it].
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Pedagogy
http://education.qld.gov.au/tal/pedagogy.html
Education Queensland's Pedagogy site has links to Principles of Effective Learning and Teaching, Productive Pedagogies (Curriculum Framework); Productive Pedagogies (New Basics); Teaching Ideas and Practices (TIPS), being examples of best practice, lesson plans and a plethora of teaching ideas, and Hot Topics-Teaching practice.
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Accelerated Schools Project
http://www.acceleratedschools.net/main_gen.htm
The Accelerated Schools Project is a comprehensive school reform project based at the University of Connecticut. Running since 1986, when it commenced at Stanford University, the project takes a comprehensive approach to school change and is designed to improve schooling for children in 'at-risk' situations. Accelerated schools represent a new kind of school where staff, parents, students, district office representatives and local community members work together to accelerate learning by providing all students with the challenging activities that have traditionally been reserved for students identified as 'gifted and talented'. The site is comprehensive, providing information on program participants, a useful sequence of articles on the frameworks for learning in accelerated schools, as well as research findings and lists of resources.
- Reforming the Hidden Curriculum
http://www.andrewseaton.com.au/reform.htm
An article challenging the tradition of subject-centred scholastic knowledge and dominance of traditional curriculum form. Seaton proposes two models by which this might be achieved: - The Key Activities Model, which reflects the known principles of effective learning and teaching and promotes meaningful and engaged learning connected to the real world and which advocates
- Four Curricular Forms, which make explicit provision for focused learning, transdisciplinary investigations, community development and personal learning projects. The site also gives access to a listing of Andrew Seaton's published writings.
- United Kingdom Reading Association
http://www.ukra.org/journals_and_other_pub.htm
This site outlines the aims and gives details of the organisation of this Association. The site contains the full text of its most recent newsletter, which in turn may contain articles relevant to literacy. The contents of journals published by the Association are listed. The association funds a variety of projects and the results of these are given in detail. Links to other sites pertaining to reading and literacy are provided.
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