A survey of 342 rural South Carolina teachers examined teacher attitudes toward inclusion of special needs students in regular education settings. The survey included 25 statements, to which respondents reacted on a five-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Major topics addressed included regular education teachers, collaboration…

This paper reviews the literature dealing with the professional development school as the ideal setting for educator preparation programs. Researchers claim that professional development schools can be sites where graduate students preparing for academic careers can be socialized to the roles and responsibilities of teacher educators, and they can…

This study explored alternative approaches to teaching and learning high school mathematics through a fluid approach to professional development utilizing cognitive coaching. Cognitive coaching is the application of specific strategies in a nonjudgmental environment, built around a collaborative, reflective planning conference. The process builds…

RAED provides a computerised infrastructure to support the development and administration of Vicarious Learning in collaborative learning communities spread across multiple universities and workplaces. The system is based on the OASIS middleware for Role-based Access Control. This paper describes the origins of the model and the approach to…

Academic institutions that prepare personnel to work in the field of special education face considerable challenges in finding and retaining qualified faculty. At the same time, a growing number of special education teachers and administrators choose academia as a second career. Few studies have sought to capture their lived experiences as shift…

Behind a simple equation, 2 + 2, lies a rich yet realistic approach to enhancing teaching and learning. As this book demonstrates, the current method of job appraisal consists of sporadic classroom visits from school administrators that frequently serve to reinforce teacher isolation rather than promote professional development. In contrast, the 2…

This monograph covers the Saginaw Teacher Study Group Movement from its inception in 1996 through its expansion to include the overwhelming majority of Saginaw teachers in 1999-2001. Since 1996, classroom teachers in Saginaw have been volunteering for study groups addressing the learning and teaching of students in poverty. In the first half of…

This article relates the experiences of teachers from the Towson University/Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland, Professional Development School (PDS) site. A Collaborative Action Research Study Group (ARSG) was formed to facilitate the professional development of inservice teachers involved in PDS partnerships. Setup of the ARSG was…

This study investigated how seven high-poverty middle schools demonstrated strong academic improvement so they were performing at levels consistent with, and often better than, higher-income schools in their states. Schools ranged in enrollment from 291-1,010 and represented several community types and ethnic groups. Among the characterisitics…

These case studies described how seven high-poverty middle schools were able to demonstrate strong academic improvement in a short amount of time so they were performing at levels consistent with, and often better than, higher-income schools in their states. These case studies focus on procedural knowledge that may prove useful to other schools…

This helpful resource will speed the mapping effort along and apply curriculum mapping to special situations. In this book teachers and administrators offer concrete advice on how to get the most out of curriculum mapping in districts and schools: (1) Steps to implementing mapping procedures and leading the mapping process; (2) Tools and resources…

This study investigates relationships between teachers' receipt of high-stakes test score results of their students and subsequent changes in instructional and classroom assessment practices the following year. The sample consisted of 722 elementary, middle, and high school teachers. The results indicate that most teachers reported using the…

This case study documents the pedagogical changes an inner city, secondary school math teacher made as she attempted to help her students learn to use their minds well. Data were gathered in the 1989-90 school year. The report includes the teacher's description of her past teaching practices, notes how she began to change, describes the inner city…

In 2000, researchers conducted surveys on teacher preparation and qualifications, measuring change since 1998. Respondents were 5,253 K-12 teachers nationwide. The survey repeated some indicators of teacher quality examined in 1998 and explored new issues. Virtually all teachers held bachelor's degrees, and nearly half held master's degrees.…

The generally accepted concept of inclusion is that students with disabilities attend classes with their general education peers with direct support from special educators. This digest discusses the rationale for inclusion in middle schools, explores recent research on inclusion, and discusses barriers to implementation. The digest notes that the…