Generalist practice social workers need to master group leadership and facilitation skills, and the best way to achieve this goal is through actual practice. An innovative teaching approach used to engage undergraduate social work majors in developing group facilitation skills is a "hands-on" service-learning experience leading social…

Gravemeijer's (1999, 2004) construct of a "local instruction theory" suggests a means of offering teachers a framework of reference for designing and engaging students in a set of sequenced, exemplary instructional activities that support students' mathematical development for a focused concept. In this paper we offer a local instruction theory to…

"The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools" serves as a bridge between research and practice by providing a cohesive, proven, and usable model of effective instruction. Compatible with other professional development programs, this model shows how to apply relevant research from educational and cognitive neuroscience to classroom…

By providing a variety of strategies, scenarios, examples of student writing, classroom video clips from across all science content areas, rubrics, and guidelines for designing assessment items, "Supporting Grade 5-8 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science: The Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework for Talk and Writing" provides…

Teachers know what a daunting job it can be to ensure that all students in a class learn effectively. In addition to the usual difficulties of gaining everyone's attention at once, instructors also run into the issue of preferred learning styles. In any classroom environment, the same topic is taught to multiple students, and each student may…

Discusses the group investigation teaching model, which combines inquiry and cooperative learning. Identifies the steps of group investigation as (1) establishing a focus, identifying subtopics, and forming groups; (2) planning the investigation; (3) carrying out the investigation; (4) preparing to share; (5) sharing; and (6) evaluation. Offers an…

A model assignment was designed and tested to enhance special education teacher candidates' skills and understanding in order to improve student learning. The model includes university and school-site activities that develop teacher candidates' awareness of the relationship between on-task learning time and student achievement. Teacher candidates…

Teachers at the intermediate level can now take advantage of the small-group differentiated reading model introduced to the early learning community in Beverly Tyner's bestseller of 2004. This classroom-tested, research-based model supports reading, writing, and spelling as integrated processes. Differentiated instruction can help the reader meet…

This guide to assessment of learning based on the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) stresses the use of rubrics or guidelines that establish criteria and indicators of success. Part 1 examines the theory of evaluation and rubrics in three sections that address: current evaluation methods and their biases; effective evaluation methods and their…

This article reviews the literature on curriculum-based assessment (CBA) with students who have special education needs. Features of CBA common to various approaches and contributing most to its instructional effectiveness include teachers' evaluative attitudes and behaviors, focus and sustained attention on student performance, and facilitation…

Alternative teaching strategies such as cooperative group work should be followed by cooperative assessment strategies. Teachers of teachers use various teaching models but may fail to also model a similar variety of assessment strategies. When the emphasis is on cooperative learning, especially with an issues-oriented approach, then the…

Discussion of reading assessment of students with learning disabilities considers theoretical models of reading, curriculum-based assessment, and miscue analysis. A comparison of the reading strategies of two second-grade readers using miscue analysis is detailed. Emphasis is on instructionally relevant student assessment. (Contains seven…

In this language arts unit, high-ability students in grades 4 through 6 study the concept of change by reading autobiographies of writers from various cultures and by looking at change in selected lives. Selected stories from "Junior Great Books" were chosen for their probing of issues of identity. Other literature selections are drawn…

This book addresses the practical management of higher education teaching and learning as it is related to any subject. The volume stresses principles of the reflective practitioner model--open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness. Chapter 1 introduces the book and its concept of teaching as a management process. Chapter 2 focuses on…

Elements of good teaching and ways to master effective teaching techniques are examined, drawing on direct observation, the literature, and student accounts of outstanding professors. A model of effective college teaching that includes nine styles of classroom instruction is proposed. The dramatic and interpersonal aspects of teaching and the…