Chemistry Is in the News (CIITN) is an innovative project aimed at enhancing higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) via connecting university-level chemistry to everyday life and real-world issues. The CIITN project and its related Web tools were presented in a workshop to illustrate their conceptual framework, educational potential, and…

Researchers examined roles and actions of members of "co-teaching" teams including a special educator and a regular educator in a public high school. Observational data were collected using momentary time sampling procedures. Results indicated that regular educators presented material to students in 29.93% of observed intervals; special…

This brief paper describes a Behavioral Intervention Program (BIP) in Georgia in 1995-1997 that provided services at the local level for 88 students with severe and challenging behaviors. Under the program, students with severe behaviors are identified at the local level and referred to the BIP through a request for service process. The local…

This document reports on a study of the nature, causes and consequences of team learning among faculty in five secondary schools. Data were collected primarily through group interviews; 48 individual team members also responded to an 11-item survey about team learning conditions. From the data analysis, three teams were classified as functional…

Teacher mentoring programs are perceived as an effective staff development approach for beginning teachers. By establishing mentoring programs, districts serve two purposes: novice teachers get a strong start in their careers, and experienced classroom teachers serving as mentors receive recognition and incentives. Supporting beginning teachers at…

Teacher professional development is assumed to be enhanced through reflective, collective, collaborative professional communities (Little, 2003). Universities in these teacher community developments play a big role by providing teachers with pedagogical helps and professional developments. By not only encouraging teachers to go to conferences, do…

This guide will assist paraprofessionals in selecting state and national resources for training. The compilations are contributions from representatives of: (1) Local Administrators of Special Education; (2) Missouri Association of Paraprofessionals in Education; and (3) Special Education Effective Practices in the Missouri Department of …

The purpose of this guide is to help experienced professional developers and others organize and conduct professional development that trains facilitators of National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) study circles. Promoters of the study circle facilitators training should be experienced trainers. This guide includes…

Minorities are underrepresented in the departments of education at institutions of higher learning. This underrepresentation is due to more attractive opportunities in other fields, rigorous promotion and tenure requirements, and isolation of minority professors. This paper asserts that cultivation of mentoring relationships between senior members…

This in-depth case study explored the successes and struggles of elementary teachers as they implemented "Investigations in Number, Data, and Space," a K-5 research-based mathematics curriculum that offered students connected and meaningful mathematical problems and in-depth thinking. Data collection and analysis were based on the Zone…

We describe a large-scale urban school initiative aimed at teachers' professional development with the goal of increasing teachers' mathematics content knowledge and helping them improve their practice. Believing that the formation of professional communities of teachers is crucial in supporting teachers trying to implement changes in their…

In this paper we document the importance of institutional context in both constraining and enabling the work of mathematics teachers. We build from our current and ongoing collaborative efforts with middle-grades mathematics teachers to provide an analytic approach and resulting analysis that clarifies the critical role of institutional context in…

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education invited a range of people involved in schoolwide improvement to the Regional Forum on Turning Around Low-Performing Schools. Participants examined the responsibilities of federal, state, and local entities to do what is needed for students in high poverty…

This final report describes the activities, accomplishments, and outcomes of a three-year project, Preparing Advanced Collaborative Teams, of the College of William and Mary (Virginia) to train education professionals to plan, deliver, and evaluate programs for students with disabilities in inclusive settings. The project incorporated four key…

This is the fourth of a series of papers exploring the potential influence of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards propositions, standards, and processes on the development of advanced master's programs for teachers. It makes the case that collaboration is at the heart of accomplished teaching, and hence, of critical interest to both…