A University of Missouri-St. Louis program combines a two-year optometric residency with a master of science degree in gerontology to prepare clinicians as teachers of geriatric optometry. The interdisciplinary program's components include optometric care of elderly patients, supervised student teaching, and coursework in geriatrics. (Author/MSE)

Strategies used by Ramapo College of New Jersey for internationalizing its campus and programs are described in 6 broad areas: faculty development; curriculum development, including about 70 new courses or major revisions of existing courses; enhancement of language, computing, and telecommunications skills; experiential learning; multicultural…

Describes a four-stage unit of study on the world of adult work that was used in a class of kindergartners and first graders. Students first focused on the school employees' jobs and then on parents' occupations. (BB)

Reviews a study of preschool children's movement responses to music in a natural learning setting. Describes ways in which the findings of the study can be used for the development of a music curriculum that provides a developmentally and individually appropriate program. (BB)

Initiatives at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) to improve instructional quality include identification of teaching skills through consultation with expert teachers, specification of teaching standards, use of student feedback on teaching, awarding of distinguished teaching awards, assessment of teaching competence upon hiring, a…

Eastern Michigan University's experience with use of hypothetical classroom cases to promote discussion of teaching among faculty is examined. The technique has been found to be useful, adaptable to a wide range of disciplines and needs, and an effective catalyst in efforts to improve instruction. Case writers may benefit most. (MSE)

Explores why community services learning (CSL) is the right thing to do for professional renewal, enrichment, and meaning. Examples are given from Gig Harbor High School (Washington). The role of CSL in changing school cultures is also examined. Service learning is a path to better ways to educate. (SLD)

The University of Michigan's Detroit Community Outreach Partnership Center fields student-faculty teams who work on community-development projects with community organizations. Projects are designed to enrich students' experiential learning and build communities' organizational capacity. The relationship has exposed a culture clash between…

Although research increasingly reports benefits for students attending small schools, curriculum diversity is usually a concern for these schools. This paper describes a successful concurrent program involving a small high school in rural Texas and a nearby community college that stresses individualized instruction and compliance with state…

A staff development program was designed to train rural Utah teachers in effective strategies for serving gifted and talented students. Teams of facilitators from universities and district offices traveled to rural sites to deliver 3 10-hour teacher workshops. Teachers indicated that the training was beneficial and reported positive results from…

Describes the implementation of a humanities program in the context of a developing Erdkinder program in a Montessori secondary school set on a farm. Describes the curricular approach for the developing Erdkinder learning community in the first 3 years. Discusses adolescents' need to dramatize, fictionalize, and role-play to connect with other…

Describes the efforts of a group of teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and Arts and Sciences faculty at the University of Georgia to improve an established middle grades teacher preparation program. Details the change process and participants' thoughts and ideas about undergraduate teacher education. (EV)

Teacher retention is a critical problem in public education (Ingersoll, 2002), demanding collaboration between universities and local public school systems. Using veteran teacher mentors employed in a public school system to facilitate ongoing monthly support groups, communities of beginning teachers were formed, embedded within the public schools…

The "2009 State Preschool Yearbook" is the seventh in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This latest Yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2008-2009 school year. The first report in this series focused on programs for the 2001-2002 school year and…

Urban public schools and their teachers are under siege. From increased standardization, privatization and testing to a growing number of students whose needs are not being met by schools, urban public school teachers face a daunting task. Without a space in which to critically examine their daily experiences within schools, many well-intentioned…