Educators who thoroughly investigate data, raise questions, examine student learning, test their hypotheses, and then share their findings are mirroring effective math and science instruction. Using collaborative inquiry, data teams can help improve teacher knowledge and help teachers change their practice in ways that will enhance student…

Anyone who can access the Internet can be part of the knowledge-access, knowledge-building, information-exchanging culture, regardless of location. The research presented in this article is about blogs and their use in a new teacher professional development project. Weblogs were first named and described in 1997 by Jorn Barger (Blood, 2000) and…

This action research presents data about an online Master of Arts in Education (MAE) in Learning and Behavior Disorders (LBD), P-12 at Western Kentucky University. During extensive program revisions, the program developed a collaborative assessment model while preparing more than 300 special education personnel for work in rural schools.

Because federal law offers little guidance for continually-failing schools, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) conducted a study from August 2006 to January 2007 in Michigan to explore questions of what happens after restructuring, particularly to schools that continue to fail to meet achievement targets. Because it had an accountability system…

This paper explores perspectives on self-study in teaching and in research through a longitudinal school-based professional development program for science teachers. The exploration focused on two broad perspectives: (1) self-study can be both personal and collaborative; and (2) self-study can be of teaching and of research. The professional…

This study examined whether the incidence of classroom behavior problems of students with behavior disorders were reduced in collaborative/cooperative classes when compared with traditional special education classes. Subjects were 15 students in grades 6 through 8 who spent half their class day in a collaborative/cooperative classroom and the…

This book presents a design for initiating, implementing, and institutionalizing a consultation-based service delivery system in school settings, based on the Instructional Consultation Teams (IC-Teams) model. It brings together the literature on school consultation and school change, for practitioners in general and special education and in…

This paper provides special educators with effective strategies for successfully implementing full inclusion of disabled students in general education classrooms. The starting point for inclusion is the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which develops goals and objectives and considers appropriate student placement. Frequently, IEP objectives…

This paper explores the concept of combining collaborative action research, used in examining teacher behaviors, with group dynamics, used to facilitate new ideas and increase motivation. Specifically, the study examines the effort by one team of middle school teachers to conduct teacher team collaborative research. After reviewing the literature…

This manual and related 41-minute video was produced by a 5-year federally funded project to foster collaboration between special education and child care staff in early childhood programs. The approach is based on a structured, relationship-based, problem solving framework, "Going Around the Circle." The process involves five steps: (1)…

Federal law requiring the least restrictive environment (LRE) for disabled students has resulted in the mainstreaming of disabled students and more recently, in the practice of inclusion. Although LRE has increased the number of disabled students in the general education classroom, the dual system of general and special education continues to…

This qualitative study of teachers'"sensemaking" about changing professional relationships and inclusive education involved interviews and observations of three teachers over the course of a school year. The teachers, one each from regular and special education and a "collaborating teacher," were employed in an urban upper elementary school in the…

This report discusses the outcomes of a 1996-1997 review that investigated the current role of Learning Assistance Services in the delivery of special education support services to students in 115 British Columbia public schools and the students who receive these services. Learning Assistance Services are described as school-based, non-categorical…

Professional development schools (PDSs) are usually viewed as school-university partnerships aimed at regeneration of teacher education and/or the reform of public schools in general. This paper examines the gap between creating a PDS structure and achieving these goals, suggesting that bridging the gap may require destabilization of both faculty…

This study examined the social networks of teachers' strong and weak ties and the impact of those associations upon their beliefs about the realities of elementary education in terms of the knowledge and skills that influenced those realities: school context, general pedagogy, specific subject matter pedagogy, nature of the learner, and self as…