Inclusion practices and special education can be transformed by using a disability studies perspective, which constructs differences as natural, acceptable, and ordinary. Although inclusion is a moral imperative in promoting social justice, some inclusive practices continue to marginalize students with disabilities. A truly inclusive school…

Many preservice teachers are concerned about finding the correct position in education when they graduate. In United States' schools mission statements have been in vogue for decades, but these statements often do not live up to the reality. This article describes an action research project that assists teacher candidates in assessing school…

In the Australian state of Victoria, vocational education and training have been integrated in secondary schools with largely successful employment and postsecondary outcomes. However, changing the academic, college-preparatory culture and attitudes will take more time. (SK)

A joint degree nursing program involving three New Jersey colleges uses these ingredients for successful academic partnerships: focus on students, awareness of differing missions, understanding of institutional cultures and work rules, communication, and willingness to collaborate. (SK)

Describes an alternative approach to teacher professional development that involves redesigning the school environment to enhance conditions that help teachers collaboratively reflect on, question, and change underlying beliefs and assumptions that guide their teaching practice. The paper examines teachers' learning needs, limitations of…

Examines three contrasting teaching styles in a middle-class junior high school. Performance expectations of the school culture often conflict with the developmental needs of early adolescents to integrate expressive, peer-oriented behavior into classroom activities. Teachers' responses to this tension determine their teaching styles. (Author/LHW)

Discusses how private schools differ from public schools, noting how private schools create meaning via cultural attributes and suggesting potential pitfalls in eschewing tradition in response to external pressures. Private schools must understand the balance between tradition and innovation to avoid losing their roots or becoming obsolete. (SM)

Examines the academic effectiveness of English and Welsh Catholic schools, showing that there is a distinct Catholic community within English society having its own history, beliefs, values, attitudes, and practices that legitimately constitute a specific lifestyle. In meeting the many needs of their faith communities, Catholic schools accrue…

Comments on the research finding that, inasmuch as schools are complex organizations, powerfully resistant to change, effective staff development requires focused school effort. The role of school climate and the principal, the relation of theory and application, and the need for evaluation are mentioned. (Contains eight references.) (KRN)