This article explores how choral music educators can facilitate access to meaningful music experiences for all students in their schools. In a changing landscape that honors equity and diversity, music education environments must also change to align with these values. To provide the optimal environment for successful inclusive practice, choral…

Planning is an important phase of teaching, during which teachers make decisions about various aspects of instruction that ultimately shape students' opportunities to learn. Prior research on teacher planning, however, fails to adequately describe experienced teachers' planning decisions, and is unclear about the extent to which teachers use…

Block scheduling encourages increased comprehensive immersion into subject matter, improved teacher-student relationships, and decreased disciplinary problems. While block scheduling may offer many advantages, moving to a block schedule from conventional scheduling can be a major adjustment for both students and teachers. This guide is intended to…

The purpose of this guide was to provide principals and teachers in San Diego, California with information and guidelines for implementing a 4-hour kindergarten program. Contained in the guide are suggestions for helping teachers (1) plan weekly time allotments in subject areas, (2) plan daily schedules, (3) group students for maximum learning,…

Describes the revised social studies curriculum at Wausau West High School (Wisconsin). Discusses interdisciplinary cooperation among teachers, team teaching, and emphasis on higher order thinking skills. Contends that flexible scheduling and varying class size contribute to the program's effectiveness. (CFR)

This paper investigates the questions and considerations that should be discussed by administrators, faculty, and support staff when designing, developing and offering a hybrid (part online, part face-to-face) degree program. Using two Web questionnaires, data were gathered from nine instructors and approximately 450 students to evaluate student…

Designed with the new teacher in mind, this kindergarten curriculum guide begins Part I with a statement of beliefs and goals guiding educational practice and lists needs and characteristics of kindergarten children. Part II focuses on preparing for the school year and offers information to help teachers become oriented to unfamiliar school…

It is argued that field trips and related activities in and out of the classroom, especially when well-planned, have educational, social, and cultural value for students of English as a Second Language (ESL). They offer meaningful learning experiences, extra learning opportunities, and authentic language encounters with native English-speakers.…

Practical suggestions are offered for teaching mathematics in a block schedule, including ways to make some topics more compact, integrate mathematics with other materials, and design lesson plans to maximize instructional time. Chapters are: (1) "NCTM [National Council of Teachers of Mathematics] Standards and Teaching Mathematics in a Block…

The report offers a comparison of instruction time for beginning languages at St. Olaf College (Minnesota) and 17 other colleges and universities, and concludes with recommendations for curricular change at St. Olaf College. Contact hours ranged from 80 hours (St. Olaf) to 171 hours. The study was undertaken in response to faculty concern that not…

A redesign of the basic foreign language courses at the University of Michigan--Flint, stimulated by a need for improved enrollment and retention and for more language majors, had the result of improving faculty cooperation and teaching. Before the curriculum development effort, the program reflected individual faculty preferences and…

The guide is designed to address concerns of North Carolina second/foreign language teachers and school administrators as they plan and implement block class scheduling. The first section outlines the rationale and special considerations for block scheduling, and offers some typical schedule options. North Carolina's instructional time…

The story of the process that Mundelein High School (located in a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois) as it moved from a traditional schedule to a block schedule is described throughout this book as a way to blend theory with practice. The book addresses types of block schedules; key issues for effective preparation; professional development…

This book is designed to help teachers successfully include students with disabilities in general education classrooms. It is divided into three sections. The first section contains ideas to help develop and implement an inclusive education program. Recommendations for grouping students, using paraprofessional time, scheduling, inservice and…

This guide is the third publication in a series designed to help school districts in North Carolina implement effective second language programs in the middle grades, building on existing elementary programs and connecting with established secondary school programs. The guide first explains the rationale for including second languages in the…