In the schoolhouse, nothing matters more to students' learning than their teachers. But only about one of every four U.S. classrooms has an "excellent teacher"--one who produces enough learning progress to close achievement gaps quickly and help all students leap ahead to higher-order learning. What can schools do, now, to reach many…

Ensuring quality teaching in every classroom across an entire system of schools--that's what a district leader's job is all about. A district leader's challenges are unique so "The Learning System" was created with that in mind. This issue contains: (1) What Works Around the World: Landmark Study Examines Professional Learning Abroad to Pinpoint…

About 15 percent of the American workforce of 3.5 million teachers either moves or leaves the profession each year. The size of the teaching force coupled with the high annual turnover rates seriously compromises the nation's capacity to ensure that all students have access to skilled teaching. If the dominant teacher workforce policies and…

The vision for transforming the education of the nation's nearly four million teacher workforce presented in this report comes not from any one group but from a diverse group representing a broad range of perspectives. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for…

Discusses different teaching methods beginning with the least effective to the most effective and addresses some general weaknesses and strengths of each of the styles as a means of moving from the traditional mode of teaching and learning to a more active engagement with students. (CMK)

Presents tasks from the topics of calculus, statistics, non-Euclidean geometry, and probability to illustrate effective college mathematics teaching. Discusses some obstacles to change in college-level mathematics teaching and strategies to overcome those obstacles. (MDH)

As a result of the pressures of educational reform and high-stakes assessment, some schools run the risk of foregoing active, student-centered learning activities for building test-taking skills and the memorization of discrete facts (Gredler, 1999; Jackson & Davis, 2000). Coupled with the additional pressure to fulfill the expectations of…

The theoretical model of a good teacher has evolved through three stages: (1) the subject-matter model, which was predominant in the 19th century and through the 1930s; (2) the trait-factor model, which accompanied the "baby boom" era of the 1950s and 1960s; and (3) the instructional design model, whose development paralleled the emergence of the…

This case study examined the effects of the "Formation Of Concept between you and me which is US" (FOCUS) model on teacher perception and efficacy and its application in the classroom. The FOCUS model, based on the theory of Interactive Perceptual Psychology (IPP), uses concepts to assist in altering teacher perception of the student as a total…

A regional workshop was held in which educational researchers and practitioners shared their innovations, successes, concerns, and progress in using research and development to promote excellence in their state and local education agencies. This document reports its proceedings. "School Improvement: What the Research Says," by David P.…

Community colleges are on the cutting edge of the multidirectional change with the coming of a new century. Peters and Waterman, two management consultants, have spawned thousands of models, designs, and strategies for using organizational excellence as a gyroscope for navigating the turbulence of change. This paper presents Waterman's four-step…

Noting that thinking processes cannot be separated from educational content, this two-volume collection aims to define the profound changes in educational thought during the 20th century, as well as to present examples of how these changes are embodied in excellent schools and other learning communities. Volume one is divided in three sections.…