The following Web sites provide resources for understanding the problems facing secondary schools and potential ways to solve them. Included are resources to learn more about the systems of education in Singapore and Denmark.
Danish Ministry of Education
http://eng.uvm.dk/
At the English language version of the Danish Ministry of Education site, you can read a new report citing the strengths and weaknesses of Denmark's folkescole, the country's compulsory education system for children ages 6–15. Another online report, titled Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and a Culture of Independence in the Danish Education System, details plans to push creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship at all levels. For example, the report calls for fostering “inventiveness and product development” in primary science classes and the possible creation of “Innovation” as a subject of study at the secondary level.Education Alliance at Brown University
http://www.alliance.brown.edu/
The Education Alliance seeks to promote educational improvement, especially for populations that have had limited opportunities to pursue educational excellence. This site features archived monthly articles such as “Systemwide Collaboration: Bringing Everyone to the Table,” “Secondary School Redesign,” and “Mastering Culturally Responsive Teaching.” Information about the alliance's projects is organized under topics such as assessment and standards, literacy, leadership, and rural and urban schools.High School Survey of Student Engagement
http://www.iub.edu/~nsse/hssse/
Your school can register for the 2005 High School Survey of Student Engagement developed by Indiana University School of Education in Bloomington, Ind. Participation in the survey yields a report that shows students' attitudes by grade, instructional track, gender, and race.National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE)
http://www.ncee.org/
Committed to changing and improving how U.S. schools educate and train students to compete in a global economy, the NCEE has researched practices in other countries around the world. As the architect for the America's Choice School Design K-12 standards-based reform model, the NCEE is helping more than 500 schools align curriculum, build leadership capacity, and create learning communities to foster ongoing professional development.National High School Alliance
www.hsalliance.org
The National High School Alliance, a partnership of U.S. business and education groups, offers its latest thinking on high school reforms in its downloadable report Crisis or Possibility? Conversations About the American High School. The alliance's report highlights “seven levers”—including stronger K-16 connections, rigorous college prep academics for all, and personalizing learning—as channels for improving U.S. high schools.Singapore Ministry of Education
http://www.moe.gov.sg/
Singapore's Ministry of Education Web site provides a stream of helpful information about the country's school system, which is renowned for students' top science and math scores on international tests. Click on School Directory for detailed information about each school's mission, curricula, special emphases, and languages offered. Singapore is a multilingual society in which Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil are spoken. Ministry of Education Web literature emphasizes Singapore's commitment to people as its “most precious resource.”