The National Institute for Urban School Improvement's Web Site

David Riley, Jen Minotti, Bonnie Johnson, and Dave Paulomi


We are thrilled to announce significant enhancements and new features to our Web site: http://www.edc.org/urban  The goal of the Institute is to aid in the development of sustainable, successful urban schools. Our completely reorganized and redesigned site ensures that researchers, school professionals, families, and community members will have greater access to the Institute's many resources. The intention of our efforts is to expand the capacity of the Institute to engage these same constituencies in a dynamic partnership committed to improving outcomes for all students in urban schools.


The new Web site is fully accessible to ALL users, including individuals with:

The new features that were launched with the enhanced design include:

ABOUT US
Information about the Institute, our goals, values & beliefs, organizational structure, outcomes and products, leadership team, and staff.

DISTRICT PARTNERS
Descriptions of our work in five urban school districts: Boston, Chicago, Denver, El Paso, and Washington, DC. Meet our site liaisons, learn about our Leadership Academies, and follow our progress within each of our partner sites over five years.

LIBRARY
Our Library database has received overwhelming response during the last year and a half. With suggestions from the field, we revised it to make it even better! The Library is a searchable database created to help bridge the gap between research and practice in the overlapping fields of urban education reform and inclusive schooling practices. Search or browse for annotated references to over400 book and journal articles, videos, position papers, project reports, program descriptions, and a variety of other media. Suggest resources for inclusion in the Library.

E-NEWS
E-News, the monthly electronic newsletter of the Institute, currently has over 500 subscribers (and growing daily!). E-News is designed to keep subscribers informed of new developments in urban education and inclusive schooling via electronic mail. Available at no cost, you may subscribe directly online by filling out our subscription form. All monthly back issues (1998-99) can be downloaded from our Web site and can be reproduced for broad dissemination. Suggestions for information for future issues is always welcome.

EVENTS
An Events database of over 25 upcoming conferences, workshops, seminars, courses, calls for papers, and other events in the fields of urban education and inclusive schooling. Browse or search for rotating events. Suggest events for the database we do not know about.

LINKS+
A brand new and one-of-a-kind searchable database of links to Web sites and Listservs under the broad topics of special education and disabilities, urban education, education reform, government and legislation, family, and general education. Continually updated, we encourage suggestions for Web sites and listservs related to those topics. Fill out the online form to suggest Web sites and/or listservs we should link to.

PUBLICATIONS
Institute Publications available free of charge in multiple formats. Publications include OnPoints, brief discussions of critical issues in urban education; Spotlight on Institute Activities; and proceedings of Institute-sponsored symposia on Urban School Improvement. All Institute publications will be available for downloading in English and Spanish and we encourage our colleagues to disseminate them to others.

URBAN FORUM
A facilitated Discussion Forum, linking a national network of individuals committed to improving educational outcomes for children and youth with disabilities in urban schools. This is a place for visitors to discuss timely information, post questions, connect with others, and provide communication and perspectives to Institute leadership and staff. In the future, we will be offering online events and workshops related to urban school improvement. As always, we are continually looking for ways to both improve our site and reach people in the field, so should you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to email us at: niusi@edc.org or contact Jen Minotti, Webmaster at ext. 2485. In addition, we strongly encourage you to send us suggestions for Web links, particularly if you'd like us to link to your project. We're specifically interested in projects, organizations, and associations related to urban education, education reform, and students with disabilities in urban schools.

Lastly, we'd like to thank the numerous people who helped us in various capacities. We could not have accomplished this without the wonderful assistance of Elizabeth Collins, Erik Peterson, and Paul Giguere in EDC's Technology Initiative. We also want to acknowledge the work of our talented designer, Jose Estrela, who lent his artistic talents to bring about our new vision. Thanks. Please visit often.



Funded by the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education, the Institute's mission is to support inclusive urban communities, schools and families to develop sustainable, successful urban schools.


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