The "achievement gap" is a well-documented problem in schools. Evidence of an academic performance problem requires that educators respond quickly and differently to signs of academic failure. As the lessons of the achievement gap suggest that historical decisions about when to intervene with performance support are flawed, performance…

This article relies on the concept of educational model to explain why African countries that were colonized by Britain and France experienced significantly different forms of educational expansion after independence. The authors argue that both models represented legitimate variants of world institutional processes that drove the expansion of…

There is widespread concern that higher education is being compromised by being turned into a "commodity" to be "consumed". This article represents an initial attempt to explore the trends in both the UK and US, and considers how the law has responded to them. It argues, however, that there is an important distinction to be…

This article examines the impact of the "new professionalism" on the culture of professional development of science teachers. In the era of "new professionalism" there is an expectation that teachers will engage in professional development, but rather than encouraging an intrinsic desire to learn as professionals, it promotes…

Society is becoming increasingly aware of the need for education to play a key role in integrating knowledge and understanding about sustainability into practical, vocational skills which can be used in the workplace. Education for sustainability is now a widely accepted concept which seeks to promote and develop sustainability skills and…

It is essential, in analyzing the significance of Spain's Organic Law of Education (2006), as well as its associated measures, to be conscious of the lines of broad, hegemonic ideology that pervade Spanish society and the European Union. The market reforms to which the education system is currently subject leads it to incorporate in an…

This booklet identifies major trends and practices in special education and relates them to current and expected changes in school policies and practices. Four specific trends are identified as grounded in evolutionary social forces that are likely to persist and result in lasting changes in school and society. These trends include integration and…

This guide to learning disabilities is primarily based on the experiences of parents and staff at Landmark College (Vermont), a two-year college specifically for students with learning disabilities. Chapter 1 introduces a group of Landmark parents and students who share their feelings and concerns. Chapter 2 describes learning by seeing, hearing,…

This paper traces the origins of professional development schools (PDSs), describes their characteristics, examines a network of PDSs, considers the place of PDSs in developing the teaching profession, addresses problems and concerns associated with developing and sustaining PDSs, and draws implications for teacher preparation and the teaching…

This paper describes the planning and implementation of an instructional unit to teach the basics of American Sign Language to a class of nine elementary-aged male students with serious emotional disturbances (including one with a severe hearing impairment) in a laboratory school. The systematic instructional approach, direct instruction, was…

This paper on infusing a Christian approach into college teaching argues that the traditional definition of teaching is narrow and harmful, that the methods a teacher uses are content themselves, that some methods are more consonant with Christian principles than others, and that Christian teachers in a Christian post-secondary institution should…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 2-year (1987 through 1989) project on the design and evaluation of specific marker and student outcome variables in school learning environments for effective mainstreaming of students with mild disabilities. The report is organized into eight sections; these include a project…

This text is intended to provide educators with increased understanding of the nature, origins, and causes of antisocial behavior and to offer information on the best available practices, interventions, and model programs for preventing and remediating antisocial behavior disorders occurring in school. The book is based upon principles of social…

Three ways to think about decision making in public high schools are to think about the types of decisions that are made, the approaches to the decision-making process, and the principles underlying decision making. The Design Group for New Designs for the Comprehensive High School refers to a set of principles as design specifications. They have…

In 1990, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Forum was established to function as a design team to consider the critical features of a professional development school (PDS) and the important principles which should be taken into account in creating and field testing the PDS concept. This report emerged from the design team's deliberations.…