CONTACT
Research for Better Schools, Inc.
Dr. Kershner served as Executive Director of this non-profit R&D firm for 20 years. RBS was one of the 10 original Regional Educational Laboratories supported by the U.S. Department of Education since 1966. RBS developed, evaluated, and disseminated noted innovative individualized curricula including the Individualized Learning Program, Individualized Learning for Adults, Experienced-Based Education, Administering for Change, and the Humanizing Learning Program. Dr. Kershner designed and managed RBS's Research and Evaluation Division and RBS Publications, which focused on research-based assessment, test preparation, thinking skills, study skills, at-risk youth, and STEM products. In addition to the U.S. Department of Education, sponsors included the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, state departments of education, and foundations. RBS recently merged with the Public Health Management Corporation.
Environmental, Cultural, Historical, and Historical Outlooks: Landscapes of the Middle Danube
Dr. Kershner was co-leader of this Fulbright-funded project which took a group of American educators Central Europe to study these interrelated national features in Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, and Croatia. ECHO
Four teams engaged in field research, professional discourse
course, international networking, and Web-based curric-
ulum development. As a result, participants gained inter-
national understanding and sensitivities and developed instructional resources related to environmental sustainability.
Eisenhower Consortium for Mathematics and Science Education
Dr. Kershner directed the Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower Consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Education for a number of years. The Consortium provided innovative professional development, knowledge dissemination, and coordination services on a large scale in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. He also co-chaired the national evaluation studies of the Eisenhower Consortia and digital information Clearinghouse.
Dropout Prevention Evaluation
Dr. Kershner served as the lead on a five-year evaluation of dropout prevention measures in an urban school district. The measures included credit recovery
advanced courses, CAI, summer courses, career
education, outreach workers, positive behavior
support, and tutoring. While measurement
issues confounded definitive results of the graduation vs. dropout rate trends over the five years for the total student body, it was clear that advanced placement enrollment and performance increased, the subset of identified at-risk students had better results, and regular users of career services tended to drop out less.
Hungarian Conference on Conflict: “Konfliktusok”
Dr. Kershner was invited to bring a delegation to the 20th anniversary of the "changeover" to democracy by
the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) at the
Lakitelik Center. Conference participants
included educators from Hungary, Croatia,
Austria, Slovenia, and Romania.
