As Brian Huot and Ellen E. Schendel assert, when assessment has more than validation in mind, it "can become a means for proactive change" (208). In response to this idea of assessment as an optimistic and opportunistic enterprise, this article describes how the structural design of our "equal opportunity" writing program and…

Many students probably know something about space from playing computer games or watching movies and TV shows. Teachers can expose them to the real thing by launching their experiments into near space on a weather balloon. This article describes how to use high-altitude ballooning (HAB) as a culminating project to a chemistry unit on experimental…

A Family Geography Night (FGN) kit can be used to bring families together, teach about the world, give parents the opportunity to share their beliefs, and participate in the educational system while having fun! Geography is an essential element of twenty-first-century education. More than just maps, geography is the interaction of cultures,…

Growing up in Loretto, Tennessee, population 1,700, people called it "going to town" when they went to any city big enough to have a McDonald's, Walmart, or a movie theater. If someone is not from a small town, they may not know what type of economic activities a small town can support. Will the town have a police department? Will there…

This paper reports on a project which is designed to increase the participation of high school students in accounting work experience placements. The focus of the paper is on an Australian-based project which overcomes the identified barriers to offering high school accounting work experience placements with a resultant increase in the number and…

Social Entrepreneurship (SE) programs have been expanding over the past decade. The emergence of this new discipline can be attributed to two overlapping factors. Students (particularly business students) have expressed an increased desire to blend values, ethics and social causes into their own vocations. At the same time, the nonprofit and…

The number of students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is declining due in part to a lack of student interest (Fairweather 2008; NRC 2012; PCAST 2010). One reason may be the difference between how science is done in school and how it is done in the field (Osborne, Simon, and Collins 2003). An interdisciplinary…

The "Value-Added School Review (VSR)" is an analytical model designed to assist schools in identifying and addressing opportunities for school improvement. The model works best when it is focused purposefully on students and the student learning outcomes as defined in the "Guide to Education". It complements the processes…

The topic of international education continues to gain the attention of educators. However, the American Council on Education (ACE) spotlights a slow response from universities to make intercultural learning a critical part of the undergraduate education process. Nonetheless, intercultural components are common not only in intercultural…

The handbook for the Culver City (California) Spanish Immersion Program and the Advocates for Language Learning (ALL) describes the program and organization. ALL is a nonprofit association of parents, teachers, and other individuals interested in promoting and enhancing the study of second languages. The organization's goals and local and national…

Examines several issues that arise in designing and teaching courses on the sociology of complex organizations. Describes strategies which may be used to overcome typical course design constraints and poses several key questions for individuals involved in teaching such courses. (Author/GEA)

Following a "building code" specified by their art teacher, sixth-graders designed and built cardboard townhouses to serve as permanent hallway decorations in their school. This article is one of four in this issue describing elementary level mural projects. (SJL)

The process of protein synthesis, translation, is difficult for many students to understand. There are two reasons for this: (1) It is difficult to visualize the process, since the components involved in the process are not observable, and (2) There are many details, often dependent on each other and difficult to grasp independently, that are…

It is suggested that the most desirable approach to combatting the smoking problem is to prevent youngsters from beginning to smoke, rather than prescribing treatment for them after they have become steady smokers. A program, which uses peer models, is described in this paper. (Author/KC)

The planning, design, and construction of a computer-assisted instructional program in pharmaceutical calculations at St. John's University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions is reported. The program was designed to supplement classroom teaching by concentrating on problem solving. A sample unit of instruction is appended.…