The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates parent-professional collaboration. But difficulties between parent and professional collaboration seem to persist. These difficulties do not seem to be related to a lack of mutual respect or lack of good intentions. Perhaps difficulties exist because of a lack of common ground.…

This article describes the development of the Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness. The authors used the teamwork literature to create potential items, which they tested using two surveys of college students (Ns = 2,777 and 1,157). The authors used exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to help them select…

The United States Association for Young Physicists Tournaments (USAYPT) held its annual February Tournaments on Feb. 9-10, 2007, at the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics, Durham, NC. Young physicists' tournaments are theoretical and experimental research-based team competitions described more fully at the USAYPT website:…

When it comes to professional development, state and local education institutions frequently support the priorities of determining content area needs and organizing the delivery of the professional development, but less often comprehensively evaluate the training's overall effectiveness. Taking current research and practical application into…

In an effort to improve the retention rate in their entry-level information systems course, the authors of this article integrated a team-learning approach into its instructional format. This article describes the steps taken, including how team learning compares with the traditional approach based on lecture with occasional group exercises, and…

Illinois Wesleyan University created the Trust the Wisdom in Student Teams (TWIST) project to develop student teams into essential components of IT support. This article explains how and why to apply the TWIST concepts. When deciding if a student team is a good choice, to meet a particular institution's IT support requirements, several things need…

This article discusses the various sources of athlete stress and the strategies that coaches can use to help young athletes cope with it. The information is based on a study with a competitive adolescent soccer team and its two coaches, and a review of the coaching and sport psychology literature. The suggested coaching strategies can help to…

Each year, students in Kittanning Senior High School's Principles of Technology (POT) classes have a design challenge, usually beginning with CO2-powered or Maglev-powered vehicles and progressing to such challenges as soap-box cars or radio-controlled airplanes. The author's recent POT class challenged them with the most exciting challenge yet:…

The literature on higher education acknowledges the importance of context to the effective completion of research by postgraduate students but overlooks to study the importance of this factor for academics in higher education. The research reported here explores the extent to which academics in higher education sense that their research engages…

Dr. Stephen R. Pickard is currently serving as an adjunct professor at Gardner-Webb University located in Boiling Springs North Carolina. He is a retired educator having served 21 years as a classroom teacher at both the middle and elementary levels. In addition to his service as a classroom teacher, Dr. Pickard served as a public school…

Coordinated school health programs (CSHPs) provide an organizational framework for school health practice by combining health education, health promotion, disease prevention, and access to health services in an integrated, systemic manner. This project examined the effects of a regional 2-year training program to increase local school districts'…

In this article, the author describes how middle schools can prepare young people for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Integrating 21st century skills deliberately and systematically into middle school education will empower educators to accomplish many of the elusive goals they have tried to reach for years. Twenty-first…

This case study examined the experiences of two middle level teachers as they worked with a literacy coach and university partners in an instructional improvement initiative. Robert and Janice worked together as a two-teacher team. Across the three years of the study, they collaborated with Melissa, the literacy coach, to integrate reading and…

In classrooms and schools across the United States, educators struggle to meet the requirements of standards-based reform that was enacted by federal legislation. Secondary schools can use coteaching with mixed-ability groups of students to meet increased curriculum demands and provide mandated strategies and accommodations for students with…

Adolescent English language learners present particular challenges for schools. The population of adolescent ELLs is diverse, and their educational needs are affected by differences in immigration status, quality of educational background, native language, cultural distance from U.S. culture, future plans, and economic status. The article offers…