Principals' wheelbarrows are full of initiatives: closing learning gaps, preparing for the Common Core State Standards, differentiating instruction, and improving college and career readiness, to name a few. Meanwhile, principals have too few assets in their toolboxes to meet all the hefty demands. Taking the long view, it becomes clear that true…

There is much to be read and said about the value of group counselling. The central purpose of this paper is not to convince someone of the merits of group work but rather to describe a group counselling model which has met with some success. The Pyramid Problem Solving Model is based on a series of tasks which, if completed, propose to aid the…

A Danish university's foreign language teacher education program's use of learning contracts is described. The student project has four major functions: solving a particular instructional problem, working in a group, finding a method that uses the individuals' skills to their best advantage, and organizing the work to be done. (MSE)

Systematic contracting which involves students, parents, and teachers negotiating common issues is a time-limited cognitive-behavioral intervention that has the potential to maximize psychologists' impact upon schools. (BW)

Describes a process by which technology education students negotiate a contract with the teacher, then develop a plan to fulfill the contract and meet specific criteria for assessment. Concludes that this process provides a mechanism for the individualization of learning, accommodates the development of independence and self-direction, and…

In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Public Schools, thousands of gifted children are tackling challenging, real-world problems correlated with curricular expectations. This gifted program fuses three philosophies: multiple-intelligences theory, problem-centered learning, and a thoughtful atmosphere to foster critical and creative…