Background/Context: Schools and teachers are under immense pressure to adopt technology as a mechanism of educational equity. As such, it is important to understand what school-level practices can support more meaningful technology integration in classrooms. This is especially critical in a time (during the COVID-19 pandemic) when digital learning…

In the past decade, research-practice partnerships (RPPs) have grown in number and reputation. Stephanie Brown and Annie Allen describe the varied ways partnerships facilitate more sustained and productive relationships between researchers and practitioners. They share key findings from a comparative case study of three different types of RPPs…

The educational landscape around standards, assessment, professional development, and funding is changing at a rapid pace. This article asks how can education institutions--and educators--respond with a balance of urgency and coherence? How can education institutions temper the need for risk-taking and innovation with the responsibility to deliver…

To be actively involved in their own writing requires that students make decisions. In order to build a new approach for our Technical/Professional Writing classes, we assessed our individual teaching practices and past experiences, studied current scholarship on teaching writing, and conducted research on technical writing in our local community.…

For the 1992-93 school year, the Indiana Department of Education awarded planning grants to 10 school corporations and special education cooperatives which applied to be Inclusion School Pilot Sites. Funding was provided for activities related to planning and becoming more inclusive. Visits and interviews at the sites led to conclusions about…

A Challenge Committee comprised of the school librarian, principal, counselor, a district consultant, and teachers developed a junior high school gifted program that incorporated student interests, teacher talent, and community resources. The program's success stemmed from opportunities for teacher ownership, administrative support, parent and…

Four alternative approaches to the standard teacher education program are currently being offered at Michigan State University. Each alternative program provides instruction on the effective teaching of school subjects, but each option emphasizes a particular aspect of the teacher's role: (1) fostering academic learning; (2) teaching in…

Presents findings from studies that provide guidelines to policymakers and administrators on a range of issues related to school improvement. The first set of issues deals with deciding upon the nature of the desired changes. The second set deals with planning how to proceed. One hundred twenty-eight footnotes are appended. (IW)

This guide is intended to assist teachers and vocational administrators in getting parents, students, and members of the community at large to participate in the process of planning and developing a high-quality home and family life education program. The first section discusses the importance of teamwork among parents, students, school, and…

This publication features sixteen articles that focus on the theme of collaborative decision making. The articles are concerned with: 1) effects of the lack of collaboration; 2) the trust, distrust, and political reasons behind collaboration; 3) collaboration as a critical democratic process; 4) mandated public school and community cooperation;…

This report examines political conflict in decision making in three public schools, and describes how the Teacher Participation Project (TPP), which was implemented in two of the schools, sought to minimize such conflict by institutionalizing local governance structures for teachers. The report consists of two parts. Part I investigates various…

This training manual for a 2-day workshop was developed from the perspective that a fully inclusive society will evolve only if there are schools which embrace all children, including those with disabilities. Each participating team first considers their school's current goals and progress made towards full inclusion, and then establishes goals…

This trainer's packet, designed to be used in conjunction with the participant's manual, was prepared for a 2-day workshop to restructure schools to embrace all children, including those with disabilities. The trainer's materials include: program objectives; masters for overhead transparencies; and descriptions of learning activities, including…