In spite of what appears to be a trend toward subject-centered classrooms, many positive things happen when teachers conduct classes where the emphasis is on students and their needs. (Author)

Paper attempts to show that it is possible to help young people modify their actions in the area of risk-taking behavior through stressing the consequences of motivation. (Author/CB)

Discusses the dilemma posed by critics who want public secondary schools to forego specialization, fragmentation, and individualization and institute higher standards, better behavior, a narrower definition of what constitutes an education, and a heavy emphasis on communality. (Author/WD)

Case study of grade 8 at-risk students' perceptions about learning in a nonstandard classroom, a "technology lab" designed around three research-based approaches to the educational environment: cooperative group work, authentic tasks and assessments, and appropriate use of technology. Finds that students feel more motivated to learn, receive…

Curriculum organization, particularly in the secondary school, should provide for continuity, sequence, and integration of knowledge. There are five basic schemes of organization discussed in this article. (Author/WD)

Describes the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, a systematic set of strategies for increasing student effort, enjoyment, and creative productivity. Explains the Total Talent Portfolio, a model component and vehicle for systematically gathering, recording, and acting on information about students' abilities, interests, and learning styles. Illustrates…

Traditional instruction employs text/talk vehicle focused on basic literacy, with little effort to engage students in information literacy, or accessing, analyzing, synthesizing, applying, and creating information with electronic media. This article provides Information Age Teaching-Learning Audit to help principals assess their schools' progress…

Saying that the systems approach to teaching has not yet been sufficiently developed to revolutionize school curricula, the author advocates combining traditional approaches with in-school development of problem-solving packages. (Editor)

Students need to develop interpersonal skills, including the ability to work as team members, teach others, and work well with diverse people. A Connecticut high school successfully used curriculum-based teaming to integrate its curriculum and teach the value of teamwork. The 9th-grade Success in Learning program and the 10th-grade American…

Describes development of a Multiple Intelligences Theory Application (MITA) model used in high school classrooms to address major content, collaboration, and criteria concerns. The model invites parents to collaborate, from curriculum planning stages to the end stages of learning. The model also provides for student participation and alternative…

Describes the development of product design engineering, a successful student-centered interdisciplinary elective that blends critical thinking with curriculum integration, authentic assessment, practical problem solving, and hands-on engagement in a Virginia high school. The goal is to analyze the meaning of engineering as a profession and…

This case study, conducted by a doctoral student in educational administration, indicates that Florida State University's Department of Educational Leadership is changing from a traditional classroom setting to a performance-based, student-centered ambience. Service is being delivered to students in various ways. Faculty members and students…

Following a 35-year history of a Milwaukee high school's reform efforts, coauthor Nancy Connors, the new principal, unfolds her vision for this dynamic, predominantly black institution. She believes strongly in instructional improvement; participative management; facilitative leadership and teaching styles; and a caring, student-centered…

Both traditional instruction and student evaluation have become more a measure of recognition and recall ability than a genuine understanding of concepts. To move schools toward a greater sensitivity in cognitive processing, new views of time, curriculum, learning, and teachers' roles must be adopted. This will require major changes, including a…

Educators have forsaken public education's goals and their responsibility to parents and the community by substituting standardized test scores, college entrance requirements, varsity sports, and academic competition for helping young people prepare for life. Schools must involve the community in helping all students learn major life roles,…