States and technical assistance centers have asked the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) for guidance on establishing and maintaining a peer learning community (PLC). This document is designed to delineate the steps to establish and sustain a Peer Learning Community (PLC). It begins with a definition of a PLC and then presents…

Cooperation in the classroom counteracts well-established routines and values that nearly all adults and many educators take for granted. Education remains a fiercely competitive enterprise, and individualistic notions of professionalism predominate. Despite the continued importance of independence, initiative, and personal achievement, today's…

Most people would agree that schools should strive to increase their effectiveness. This handbook provides leaders and facilitators of the school-improvement process with practical information and guidelines for conducting the day-to-day work of school change and improvement. The book is organized around five questions that represent stages of the…

Communities of Practice offer state agency personnel a promising approach for engaging stakeholder groups in collaboratively solving complex and, often, persistent problems in special education. Communities of Practice can help state agency personnel drive strategy, solve problems, promote the spread of best practices, develop members'…

Information is presented to help individuals and groups translate their concerns about youth into concrete, constructive action in the community. At the heart of the guide is a step-by-step process for action. The first section deals with taking individual action, exploring ways that the individual can make a difference. The second part of the…

There are several steps to developing a successful peer-helping program for an organization. The first step is needs assessment of the organization using tests, interviews, and reflection. Self-teaching or outside training can be used to become familiar with peer helping. Next, a philosophy should be created to support and guide the program's…

This training guide is intended as an aid for agencies and professionals in creating interagency efforts to provide comprehensive care to children and youth with serious emotional disorders and their families. It is not a generic concept but a specific approach to providing care. Section I addresses the key assumptions that undergird the model,…

Volume II of the Education and Experience in Engineering E3 Program is a collection of 21 appendices related to this program which provide information on funding, participants, meetings, and communications among participants. Appendix V, an E3 Handbook for students, contains information on student advising, placement, and evaluation. Appendix VI…

This handbook and leadership guide for members of technical program advisory committees is a product of the Effective Advisory Committees Project conducted by the Minnesota State Board of Technical Colleges and the State Board of Education. The purpose of the project is to increase the effectiveness of the vocational advisory committees in…

In addition to conventional methods of easing leadership transition in student activities organizations (orderly transfer of significant organizational knowledge, minimizing confusion, sense of completion for outgoing leaders, identification of potential leaders, careful nominee selection), retreats are recommended as a means of creating shared…

Presents an eight-step plan for implementing technology integration. Describes a sixth-grade social studies class that used hypermedia software to complete a research project about the Renaissance. Discusses software selection, teaching computer skills, and the CD-ROM map project. Benefits include positive group interaction, self-expression, and…

This book synthesizes a group process conceptual framework and a practical model for facilitating learning. The book contains a curriculum of sequenced and developmental group process activities designed to make school meaningful for every student, a description of how to become skillful with the art and science of facilitative group process, and…

This resource provides tips to assist facilitators as they work with Australia's Framing the Future project teams. The 16 tips are about group selection; how to prepare for input; participant roles; how to use participants and observers; scribes and recorders; some ideas for launches and fun; praise! praise! praise!; making facilitation the key to…

This guide provides perspectives about Technical Preparation (tech prep) from personnel representing the 50 state agencies and many local consortia. The guide also explores an approach to implementing tech prep based on the concept of total quality management (TQM). Each chapter begins with an overview that provides background, a summary, and list…

This publication provides materials on the Small Group Learning Methodology Project in Victoria, Australia. The first chapter concerns the purpose of small groups in adult literacy learning. Chapter 2 deals with types of adult literacy programs, interviews, student needs, student placement, and forming groups. Chapter 3 discusses group processes,…