A considerable number of children and adolescents suffer from mental health difficulties, yet a much smaller percentage of these students receive mental health services. Given the amount of time that youth spend at school, being able to offer mental health services at school is a logical solution. In this paper we present an innovative idea for…

Everybody complains about a lack of time in school, but few are prepared to do anything about it. Laying the foundation before making such a shift is essential to the success of the change. Once a broad-based team has been chosen to do the work, they can follow a process explained in four steps with the apt acronym of T.I.M.E.: Taking stock,…

Co-planning is considered an integral part of a successful co-teaching relationship in which both teachers have parity and use their individual expertise to benefit all students. However, the literature has not discussed adequately how co-planning is achieved within the parameters of the already full schedules of two teachers. This column shares…

By August 1 of each year, each charter school in New York State is required by law to complete and submit an Annual Report to the New York State Education Department's (NYSED) Charter School Office and to the school's charter entity, and to post the report on the charter school's website. The Annual Report Guidelines include general instructions…

Every school has a list of renovations, upgrades and repairs that need attention, but many are too distracting and disruptive to carry out during the school year. Often, the best time to address these nagging construction projects is during the summer when students are on break and the campus is quieter. Although these "summer slammers" often are…

In 2014, a new General Education Development (GED) assessment will be implemented. The new, more rigorous test will be aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and will use a new test delivery model-computer-based testing (CBT) to replace the paper-and-pencil examination. These two changes have important implications for correctional…

Many schools have adopted schoolwide intervention blocks as a component of response-to-intervention (RTI) implementation to ensure that students who need intervention are receiving it. However, virtually no peer-reviewed guidance exists for helping teachers manage this time effectively. This article presents a blueprint for organizing intervention…

The mission of national colleges of technology (NCT's) in Japan and the universities of technology (UT's) in Taiwan is to pragmatically prepare quality engineers and technologists. In recent years, the partnership among NCT's and UT's is extended and expanded. This paper introduces the pragmatic and successful partnership between National United…

With today's focus on the importance of lifelong physical activity, educators are increasingly offering a variety of such activities in their classes, as well as in before- and after-school programs. This article describes the benefits of offering ice skating as a challenging and rewarding lifetime activity, either before or after school or in…

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) annually publishes an immunization schedule for persons aged 0 through 18 years that summarizes recommendations for currently licensed vaccines for children aged 18 years and younger and includes recommendations in effect as of December 15, 2009. The changes to the previous schedule are…

Few people are willing to admit that senior adults and young children share many common characteristics, including: (1) changes in development; (2) need for companionship; and (3) the desire to be understood. These two groups are connected mostly through direct interaction with middle-aged adults. One very practical way to build a greater sense of…

In her new book, popular author Ann Lewin-Benham draws on her intimate knowledge and experience with the Reggio Approach to present 12 "best practices" inspired not only by Reggio, but also by play-based and Montessori approaches to early childhood education. These practices are demonstrated, one per chapter, with scenarios from classrooms,…

It is estimated that there are over one million K-12 enrollments in online courses across the country. The number of online courses and providers continues to grow at a steady rate each year (a staggering 30% annually), providing scores of options for today's students. With all of the benefits that online learning provides to students and their…

The discussion that transpired in Fremont, Nebraska, over one academic year depicted faculty's struggles and growth as they wrestled with their school's significant change to block scheduling. Conversations demonstrate a staff moving from block-implementation stresses in the first quarter to a focus on teaching and learning in the fourth quarter.…

The multiple pathways approach holds significant promise for engaging California high school students and improving their ability to achieve their dreams. While hundreds of schools have already adopted the multiple pathways approach, much remains to be done to put more students on the path to success. Pathways must be designed around rigorous…