Elementary charter schools increasingly serve students who are at-risk for reading challenges, giving them a critical role in establishing literacy for young children. This article examines the complexities of starting early childhood literacy programs in charter schools. Specifically, the first year of K-3 literacy programs in a new and a…

Family Literacy Night is an exciting way to engage students and their parents in meaningful literacy activities while building community spirit and strengthening the partnership between school and home. It is an opportunity for students to show their parents what they do in school; how they create in the computer lab, how they work in the art…

For many years now E-learning researchers have been discussing the use of laptops in educational settings. The One Laptop per Child project, (OLPC project), has been used in developing countries since the year 2002 to avoid the increase of the digital divide between those with ready access to technology and those with limited access. Austria has…

This paper has three goals. First, it describes the broader research on summer reading loss. Second, it discusses how research and development efforts informed the key components of Project READS (Reading Enhances Achievement During Summer), a scaffolded voluntary summer reading intervention for children in grades 3 to 5. The second part of the…

The 2010 Professional Development Schools National Conference recognized the professional development school relationship between Towson University with its dual certification major and the Howard County Public School System for its outstanding collaborative accomplishments, naming the Towson-Waterloo-Ilchester-Bellows Spring PDS as a recipient of…

A learning disabilities program at the American Community School in Athens, Greece followed the procedures established by P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The 12 children (grades two through four) participating exhibited statistically significant growth in most academic and perceptual areas. The model was inexpensive as…

The Potentially Able Learner's Program in Rockford, Illinois, is a centralized gifted program for students (K-6). The program features self-contained grade-level groupings and emphasis on parent involvement. Evaluation is gathered through achievement testing, parent questionnaires, and student self-report. (CL)

Describes the process by which one person went about creating an orchestra program in the Norman, Oklahoma school system. (IRT)

An Oregon teacher describes how she and her class planned and experienced an overnight hiking trip. (SJL)

A rationale for the development of intramural sports programs at the elementary level is presented, and two programs are described. (JD)

Describes the system of primary-school performance indicators employed within one (British) local educational authority (LEA), focusing on the link between performance indicators and the LEA's concurrent efforts to support school improvement. Describes a research program to translate the performance indicators into specific targets for improvement…

This article describes procedures for setting up a before- or after-school gymnastics program based on three principles: basic skills and safety rules; orientation to the physical setup and a demonstration of spotting techniques; and rewarding students. (JMF)

The article describes a program implemented in an elementary school in which normal children tutored their disabled peers. Among suggestions given for developing peer tutoring programs are the careful selection of participants, administration of pre-post achievement tests, and development of individualized objectives and activities. (SBH)

Two teachers portray historical characters--from Lewis and Clark to Laurel and Hardy. And now, heeeeere's Allen and Corey! (Editor)

With ongoing professional development and with appropriate tools, teachers are able to internalize information-process skills. Once they understand these process skills, they are able to apply them to any media content and to transform their teaching, without the need for a "cookbook" approach, reliant only on textbooks. Instead,…