"Creating Equity and Access for Gifted Learners" provides an overview of how and why to implement the ExCEL Problem-based Learning Instruction Model as a change initiative in classrooms, and the impact that this model has had on gifted programs. The product of evidence from two federally-funded Jacob K. Javits grants, The ExCEL Model is…

This monograph, the second in a series intended as a resource for middle-level leaders, highlights three successful approaches that support student involvement in learning: problem-based learning, service learning, and student-led conferencing. Each approach is reported to have its roots in constructivism, which allows students to apply classroom…

An innovative curriculum called the "Regional Center Alternative Pathway," recently adopted by the Northwest Center for Medical Education (part of Indiana University's School of Medicine), is presented. The curriculum combines the traditional structure's didactic approach with a new problem-based tutorial curriculum. In this curriculum…

This fastback shows teachers and teacher educators how contextual teaching and learning (CTL) can change classrooms and teacher education programs. It introduces CTL in the classroom through the fictional Ms. Walters, a veteran classroom teacher who implements CTL strategies. The fastback examines the theories that support her instructional…

If the main cause of many students' disinclination to learn is attitude, it follows that the most important educational reform is the restoration of attitudes favorable to learning. This book and its companion workbook are intended to assist teachers in that goal. It helps teachers understand and appraise the negative attitudes that are all too…

A consistent lesson from the literature on school change is that no single method exists for improving schools. In that spirit, this book presents a collection of short articles that address a wide sampling of ideas and trends in educational change. All the articles were originally published in "Education Update," the official member…

This book provides a rationale, model, and procedures for implementing change in high schools. Focus is on adoption of applied, context-based, community-based education that eliminates competition between academic and vocational education and promotes cooperation in creating career-based education. Chapter 1 provides a review of how this type of…