There have been calls for decades by many educational writers and commentators for a new model of learning to facilitate what is generally described as twenty-first-century learning. Central to this challenge is the required shift in responsibility for who leads and owns the learning--from teacher to student. Such a shift requires a pragmatic…

Background: Data-based decision making can lead to increased student achievement; however, schools struggle with the implementation of data-based decision making. Professional development in the use of data is therefore urgently needed. However, professional development is often ineffective in terms of improving the knowledge, skills, and attitude…

Bridge21 is an innovative approach to learning for secondary education that was originally conceptualised as part of a social outreach intervention in the authors' third-level institution whereby participants attended workshops at a dedicated learning space on campus focusing on a particular model of technology-mediated group-based learning. This…

Teams can boost creativity, morale, and communication, but they can also unleash disharmony, create tension, and waste time. To maximize teaming benefits, administrators must share authority, cultivate teacher leadership, train all team members, use situational leadership, model effective team leader behaviors, provide incentives, support each…

This handbook provides information about the Idaho Basic Skills Project as well as processes to help identify participants who will create a successful Basic Skills Team for the school. The handbook begins with a series of questions that are intended (1) to help administrators understand the project better and (2) to help them decide on the need…

This resource bulletin focuses on Student Team Learning and Learning Together as practiced in secondary schools. Student Team Learning involves both cooperation and competition. It emphasizes the three ideas of cooperative activity structure (success in the task requires contributions from all members); cooperative reward structure (group members…

Proposes an alternative structure for the accreditation visiting teams of the North Central Association, advocating the organization of teams into five smaller, interdisciplinary units. Describes suggested team activities, benefits for faculty serving on interdisciplinary teams, and suggestions for schools interested in implementing the team…

The Future Problem Solving Program aims to empower potential leaders to manage change successfully. It involves teams of students using a structured, creative problem-solving model to tackle controversial issues for the future; writing scenarios creating alternative futures; and planning for and implementing real solutions to real problems in…

A former participant in the Future Problem Solving Program reminisces about his experience in local and national competitions, describes the program's unique features (its emphasis on creativity and focus on the future), and notes the usefulness of the problem-solving process in his work with the Corporate Audit Staff of General Electric. (JDD)

This planning guide presents an interdisciplinary team approach for improving career and vocational programs for youths with disabilities. The approach is an interdisciplinary planning process that involves identifying those things desired for students (best practices) and then working to integrate those things within the current continuum of…

This guide reflects the theories developed by Project RESPECT during 3 years of planning, implementing, and evaluating eight transition programs in central Kentucky. Project RESPECT sought to address the problems of vocational training for mentally handicapped secondary students and the coordination of services between secondary education and…

This study examined how professional learning communities develop, using cross-subject teams within the context of HUMANITAS, a program designed to promote teachers' professional growth and effectiveness by creating a voluntary "community of learners" for teachers and students. Data were gathered from teacher interviews, team…

Intended for educators who work with or plan to establish a school-based enterprise (SBE) in their school, this guide provides tools and strategies to establish and operate an SBE that provides a context for students to learn a range of academic and career-oriented skills. Section 1 suggests steps educators can take to help their enterprise--an…

This guide provides perspectives about Technical Preparation (tech prep) from personnel representing the 50 state agencies and many local consortia. The guide also explores an approach to implementing tech prep based on the concept of total quality management (TQM). Each chapter begins with an overview that provides background, a summary, and list…

In an effort to support the public schools' initiatives to develop effective schools for all students, particularly those who are work bound, the College of Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University instituted a graduate program aimed at preparing collaborative instructional leaders. The major goal of the program was to…