This article introduces a unique team approach to planning and positive behavior support. The young person becomes a key participant in solving problems and setting goals for growth. The CLEAR Team Problem Solving model shifts the focus from deficits to strengths and solutions. The goal is to identify how a child's private logic and interpersonal…

Self-directed, inquiry-based learning opportunities focused on transdisciplinary real-world problem solving have been shown to foster creativity in learners. What tools might we provide classroom teachers to scaffold them and their students through this creative process? This study examines an online informal learning environment and the role the…

This dissertation is comprised of three independently conducted studies, linked by investigation into the development of thinking skills deemed necessary for the 21st Century. While educators and policy makers advocate teaching students creative and critical thinking skills to address an increasingly global and complex world, they simultaneously…

This study examined the effect of a specific instructional approach called design teams on preservice teachers' attitudes toward technology, their technology skills, and their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). In a design teams approach, participants work in collaborative teams to design solutions to solve real-world…

The use of the cohorts in teacher education has steadily increased over the last decade. Research indicates both beneficial and negative aspects to this approach, with the field undecided. This study focuses on a Midwestern university's accelerated graduate program for special educators. The program uses a mixed cohort approach to model…

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Teams use data to guide decisions about student social and academic behavior problems. In previous evaluation and research efforts, the authors taught team members to use Team-Initiated Problem Solving, a model that embeds data-based decision making into a broader problem-solving framework. In this study,…

The Internet Generation today is accustomed to multi-tasking, graphics, fun, and fantasy. Educators are finding it challenging to engage and motivate students with the traditional mode of teaching. They are increasingly seeking to tap the potential of game-based learning to engage and motivate learners. Game-based learning is also catching on in…

Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science (GEMS) is a science and math outreach program for middle-school female students. The program was developed to encourage interest in math and science in female students at an early age. Increased scientific familiarity may encourage girls to consider careers in science and mathematics and will also help…

Colleen Vale makes the case for professional learning teams collaborating together to improve their teaching and hence children's achievement. In this article she describes how this may be done. Along the way the teachers explored the idea of equivalence and the common conceptions and misconceptions held by children in their classes.

Whether in the workplace or the classroom, many teams approach problem-solving as a search for certainty--even though certainty rarely exists in business. This search for the one right answer to a problem creates unrealistic expectations and often undermines teams' effectiveness. To help teams manage their problem-solving process and communication…

There is no shortage of challenges in school education. Some of the biggest challenges we face can appear frustratingly intractable. Despite reform efforts, regular government reviews and ongoing calls for change, progress in addressing our most significant challenges is often slow and solutions continue to elude us. In this paper Professor Geoff…

The availability of technological tools is promoting a shift toward more student-centered online instruction. This article describes the implementation of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model and the technological tools used to meet the expectations of the model as well as the needs of the students. The end product is a hybrid course with eight…

Prompted by the need for leaders able to turn around chronically low-performing schools, states, universities, education groups, and school districts in the US have initiated a variety of principal development programs. Some programs focus on enhancing the skills of experienced administrators, while others target talented teachers and even…

This dissertation focuses on interdisciplinary problem-solving teams used to address the academic needs of elementary students struggling with reading. Use of teams has a strong theoretical base and wide endorsement by educational leaders, but limited empirical base. Three studies explore teams that convene students of differing academic status:…

Numerous authors have reviewed research to determine which skills are considered fundamental to successful academic and social outcomes for students (Hattie, Briggs, & Purdie, 1996; Masten & Coatworth, 1998; Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1994; Zins, Weissberg, Wang, & Walberg, 2004). These skills include: (1) cognitive and…