Discourses and relations of child/adult and early education are super-permeated with ideas and practices of authority and boundary-making. In early years' practices, deeply important beliefs and assumptions about who or what has authority and who or what should create the boundaries of everyday activity often go unquestioned. This produces…

Describes staff development components for veteran and beginning teachers planning to teach in blocked classes. Teachers need training and practice in information-sharing methods, learning-theory applications, assessment strategies, student mastery, curriculum mapping and integration, classroom organization, and lesson development. Block…

Explored three high school teachers' experiences as they made the transition from a seven-period day to a block four-period day. Interviews, observations, and document reviews indicated that although the scope of the curriculum was reduced, the depth of content being covered increased. Teachers did not see the reduction of scope negatively because…

This article describes the revised summer school program developed by the Anchorage (AK) School District for students who received poor grades in their core classes or low scores in the Alaska Benchmark Examinations or California Achievement Tests. More than 500 middle school students from the district spent five weeks during the summer honing…

Presents a planning model that serves as a guide for social studies teachers using block scheduling, but is appropriate for any time format. Explains that the model consists of four topics describing each in detail: (1) content selection; (2) instructional strategies; (3) assessment; and (4) higher-order thinking skills. (CMK)

This paper discusses practices, issues, and trends in Japanese middle school education that have bearing on U.S. education, grouping them into four categories. Section 1, "School Reform," discusses central control of education, opportunities for student creativity, improved teacher education, and the examination system. Section 2,…

Case studies described in this book reflect conditions present in today's public schools. Situations described in these case studies are intended to introduce education students to the variety of problems existing in today's schools. The 38 case studies highlight: student cheating; teacher's observation by administrator; inclusion; contract…