In the mad dash to complete the plethora of projects that lead up to the public launch of a campaign, it would be easy to start thinking of the kickoff as a goal in itself, but it's merely a mile marker in the marathon of a fundraising campaign that may last five to 10 years. Given that only a fraction of an institution's constituents may attend a…

The Summer Curriculum Writing Institute (SCWI) supports graduates of a university-based teacher education program during the induction years and beyond with the aim of impacting teacher quality. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, goals, research, and lessons learned during SCWI from 2005-12. The week focuses around the…

Back when the author was the school librarian at Little Elementary School in Arlington, Texas, she started writing and publishing books for children. She had completed her master's and PhD in Library Science from Texas Woman's University while working full time, and when she finally finished, she had such well-honed time management skills that she…

As primary source materials in the library are digitized and made available online, the focus of related library services is shifting to include new and innovative methods of digital delivery via social media, digital storytelling, and community-based and consortial image repositories. Most images on the Web are not of sufficient quality for most…

Like all early college high schools, Clear Horizons Early College High School in Houston, Texas, tries to help its students earn a high school diploma and a two-year associate's degree simultaneously through taking dual credit courses while in high school. Although many of the school's students were successful, Clear Horizon's leaders realized…

To help students meet higher standards, all academic and career/technical teachers need to be willing and prepared to use reading, writing and mathematics as tools for learning across the curriculum. To do so, they must have access to ongoing professional development, literacy and numeracy coaching, shared strategies, and teamwork to make literacy…

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas will need over 82,000 new teachers by 2008. Many teachers are leaving the profession within 5 years of being employed. Closing a revolving door, teacher preparation programs are discussing this phenomenon. One hundred sixty beginning teacher candidates were surveyed using the Emotional Skills…

In this article, Fr. Carl Markelz and Harold Maldonado, two veteran inner-city principals, share how they have learned to use their time more efficiently. Fr. Markelz is the principal of Mount Carmel High School, a 900-student, all-male, parochial school in an area of Chicago, Illinois, that is experiencing regentrification. Maldonado is the…

The professional teaching and learning cycle (PTLC) is a professional development process in which teachers collaboratively plan and implement lessons aligned to their state standards. This process is an important part of the Working Systemically approach, designed by SEDL to improve a school system's capacity to increase student achievement.…

Describes a successful mentoring program for beginning teachers developed at a Baptist (K-12) school with 700 students and 11 new faculty members. Program mentors were experienced, but not lead teachers. The most frequently discussed problems between mentor and protege were discipline, classroom management, and the frustration of never having…

Discusses the use of union catalogs by school libraries and gives examples of their use in two districts in Texas. Topics addressed include downloading, bibliographic information, holdings information, components of a union catalog, inventory lists, resource sharing, and time-saving benefits. (LRW)

Describes mathematics education programs in Texas schools. Emphasizes the mastery of skills and concepts, as well as problem solving. Presents the philosophies of the mathematics programs for elementary schools, and for grades seven and eight. Addresses remediation, enrichment, time allotment, content, recommended manipulative materials, and…