Given the wide range of ability (academic, linguistic and cultural) in classrooms differentiated instruction is often difficult to manage. District and building level leadership can play an important role by providing the vision and support needed to implement Whole School Cluster Grouping (WSCG), the innovative scheduling approach described in…

Schools will get the benefit of in-person author workshops for a fraction of the cost with this comprehensive professional development resource. Teachers will be introduced to proven, practical classroom strategies for meeting the needs of gifted learners, whether they work in a mixed-ability classroom, cluster classroom, gifted-education…

Since Topping published his literature review on peer assessment in 1998, the number of studies on this subject has doubled, if not tripled. However, along with this expansion, the diversity of peer assessment applications increased equally fast. Based on recent literature, this contribution focuses specifically on the diversity that has come to…

In this study, the characteristics of teachers that motivate their implementation of reform curriculum, and the factors that influence the teachers' success in implementing the curriculum are investigated. In particular, teachers' internal struggles, frustrations, collegiality, and classroom successes during the implementation of the reform…

Everyone agrees that a person can not have good education without good teachers, but how do teachers see their profession? Why do people become teachers, what are their frustrations, and what reforms do they think would improve their work? This report is designed to learn more about how to support and retain the most promising teachers. The study…

Caring, as a universal human phenomenon, should permeate elementary, secondary and tertiary level instruction. The practice of teaching, especially at the tertiary level, is not only substantial and procedural but relational as well. To teach with a heart is the essence that makes teaching a form of caring. When teaching is viewed as a form of…

The author of this article observes that sometimes educators are so overwhelmed by the needs of struggling learners that they believe they do not have time for the gifted, talented, high achieving, and high potential students. However, those students are just as desperate as any other students for good teachers to help them progress. Middle school…

The phenomenon of using progress monitoring data to inform literacy instruction was explored in the context of four schools during their 2nd year of Reading First implementation. Open-ended interviews and surveys from 10 teachers, purposefully selected for maximum variation in effectiveness and skills and resistance to using data to inform…

Describes a Cluster Plus plan that groups middle school students into two clusters on each grade level according to ability. This arrangement retains vertical organization into core curriculum areas (mathematics, social studies, English, and science), while allowing flexible regrouping through horizontal team teaching. (MLH)

A policy of reducing class size seems sensible, but might have costly, far-reaching implications for students, teachers, and public support for schools. The purpose of this research brief is to summarize 100 class size research studies from 1950 to 1985 and to regroup them into 18 areas of concern. The cluster analysis approach was designed to…

This book is designed to assist teachers in meeting the needs of gifted elementary students in general education classrooms. Each chapter presents a particular teaching/management strategy. The strategies in chapters 1-3 are designed to be used with subject areas that lend themselves to pretesting because it is likely that some gifted students…

Legal issues have become of increasing concern to school teachers and school officials. This article addresses the need for teachers, administrators, and students to have a basic awareness of their legal rights and responsibilities. Based upon a review of leading law digests, the following significant legal issues are identified and examined:…

This curriculum guide deals with electrical occupations clusters. The first section of the guide introduces vocational and career education in general, and electrical occupational education in particular; provides definitions of commonly used terms; and lists guidelines for establishing acceptable secondary vocational programs in Oregon. In the…